 A fireman stands on a ladder and reaches out to Ayres and the child; meanwhile, a sailor in full Royal Navy uniform holds a second child.Although in reality Ayres had been at a much higher level of the building and the heat of the burning oil and gunpowder had made it impossible for the fire brigade to approach the building, by depicting Ayres with the fireman and sailor, widely seen as symbols of British heroism and British strength, Crane's picture further enhanced her growing reputation as a heroic figure.Crane's picture in the Red Cross Hall was itself mentioned in , a border ballad by National Trust founder Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley published in his 1896 "Ballads of Brave Deeds", for which George Frederic Watts wrote the preface.