At last a long ladder was brought, and one end placed under the
window of the room. A moment more and a bystander mounted the
ladder and. ascended in haste to the window. The smoke met him as
he raised the sash, and he cried out, "All is lost!" and returned
to the ground without entering the room.
Another sweep of the wind showed that the destroying element had
not yet made its final visit to that part of the doomed building.
The mother, seeing that all hope of again meeting her child in
this world was gone, wrung her hands and seemed inconsolable with
grief.
At this juncture, a man was seen to mount the ladder, and ascend
with great rapidity. All eyes were instantly turned to the figure
of this unknown individual as it disappeared in the cloud of smoke
escaping from the window. Those who a moment before had been
removing furniture, as well as the idlers who had congregated at
the ringing of the bells, assembled at the foot of the ladder, and
awaited with breathless silence the reappearance of the stranger,
who, regardless of his own safety, had thus risked his life to save
another's. Three cheers broke the stillness that had fallen on
the company, as the brave man was seen coming through the window
and slowly descending to the ground, holding under one arm the
inanimate form of the child. Another cheer, and then another, made
the welkin ring, as the stranger, with hair burned and eyebrows
closely singed, fainted at the foot of the ladder. But the child
was saved.
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