Catharines Peril, or The Little Russian Girl Lost in a Forest | Page 9

were,' replied my friend; 'but what of that?'
'It was the Earl of Hyndford himself,' said I; 'there can be no doubt of
it.' And I gave him the history of my journey to Glasgow.
'Well, he took the best method, certainly, to test my qualifications,'
rejoined my friend. 'I wish all patrons would do the same; we should
have better teachers in our schools, and better ministers in our
churches.'
'All patrons, perhaps, are not equally qualified to judge,' said I; 'at all
events, let us rejoice that, though "not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called," still we see one here and
one there distinguished by divine grace, to the praise and the glory of
God the Saviour.'

JANE HILL.
[ILLUSTRATION]

JANE HILL.
'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
Some years since a fire broke out in one of the narrow alleys which
abound in the poorer parts of the town in which I live. It originated, as
fires so often do, in the carelessness, or rather helplessness, of a tipsy
woman, who had thrown herself across her bed, and lain there in a
drunken stupor, while a candle, which she had left burning on a table in
the room, had fallen over and set fire to some shavings, by which the
flame had gradually been communicated to the furniture and to the
house. The author of the mischief was rescued; she lived on the ground
floor, and the firemen had gained access to her room through the
window from which the smoke was first seen bursting, thus giving the
alarm of fire to the neighbourhood. She was quite insensible, partly
from the effects of drink, and partly from being half-suffocated with
smoke; but she soon recovered, while the effects of the mischief she
had wrought lighted upon other and more innocent heads. It was an old
rickety house, and the landlord had determined on putting it into
thorough order, as otherwise it ran the risk of tumbling to pieces
altogether. He had therefore given notice to all his tenants to quit; and
they had done so, with the exception of the woman I have mentioned,
who caused the fire, and a very respectable widow, who, with five
children, occupied the attics. These women had been allowed to stay
two or three weeks after the tenants of the first floor had left, because
they had not succeeded in getting houses to suit them; and the work of
patching up the old house not having yet been begun, they had
remained in it on sufferance. The opening of the window gave the fire
the draught which was all it wanted to gain fresh strength for its fatal
work; and in two or three minutes after the unfortunate woman who
had caused it had been carried out, the flame might be seen leaping

upwards with fearful force and rapidity, as if furious at having been
disappointed of its prey. I had been spending the evening with a friend,
and had to pass the alley where the fire was; and as the house was very
near the end of it, I could see and hear what was going on without
being in the very thick of the crowd.
It was a fearful but a glorious sight. The night was frosty and clear; and
as the flames darted out of the windows, and threw out showers of
sparks, the bright red glare of the fire made the sky in relief seem of the
most intense dark blue. Some one told me that the house was empty, so
I was rather enjoying the grand beauty of the scene, when, hearing a
fearful shriek, my eye was attracted to the attic windows of the house,
and I perceived, to my horror, a woman and several children standing at
it. Clear and distinct they stood against a black background, with the
ruddy glow of the flames robing them in a crimson light, and at the
same time revealing the agony of terror which was expressed in their
countenances. 'Go to the back of the house,' shouted the firemen, 'we
can do nothing for you there.' But the little group stood paralyzed with
fear, unable to attend to the directions which were given them, or
perhaps unable to hear them, for the fire was roaring and crackling
enough to deafen any one. Three brave men of the fire-brigade went
with a ladder round to the back of the house, while the engines kept the
fire somewhat down by constantly playing on the front, as far as the
confined space would allow of their doing so. In reality, I suppose, not
many minutes elapsed from the time that the firemen had carried round
the ladder till one of