have addressed a few words to her, but when she turned upon me her lovely eyes, and looked with astonishment into my face, I could only stand mute before her.
“Who is she?” I again eagerly inquired at an old woman who stood near me.
“That young lady, dear sir, is the daughter of the Inspector of Forests, Miss Joanna.”
Joanna was again actively engaged distributing the fresh bounty which I had placed in her hands, when a young woman, in whom I immediately recognised the mistress of the inn, who had brought me the cup of kalte schale, burst through the crowd, calling on them for the love of heaven to save her child.
It appeared that in the first moments of alarm and confusion, her husband had left the house, and, as she for a time supposed, had taken his little daughter, who lay asleep in her cradle, with him; she had afterwards been told that her sister had carried away the child to her father’s house in Klarenburg; but on going thither she indeed found her sister who had saved a good many articles of the furniture, but who knew nothing about the child. Distracted at this intelligence, the poor woman had hastened back to the village, and had been with difficulty prevented from throwing herself into the burning ruins in search of her child. Her frantic screams and agony were heart-rending as she embraced Joanna’s feet, and implored her to use her influence in prevailing with some of the by-standers to attempt the rescue of her infant. “Who will try to save the child?” exclaimed Joanna, holding up the remainder of the gold in my purse, her beautiful eyes filled with tears. Twenty, thirty rushed forward; but none had the courage to plunge through the thick smoke and flames. Three times the unfortunate mother made the attempt, and thrice she was compelled to return with her clothes on fire. Meanwhile I had directed the engine-men to keep playing upon one spot, and I now crept through an opening myself, amid the tor-
