was no hesitation in the action of the youth. With unscrupulous
and fearless precipitation, he gave his horse the necessary direction,
and with a smart application of the rowel, plunged down the narrow path
toward the spot from whence the alarm had arisen. As he approached, the
light grew more intense, and he at length discovered a little
cottage-like dwelling, completely embowered in thick foliage, through
the crevices of which the flame proceeded, revealing the cause of
terror, and illuminating for some distance the dense woods around. The
shrieks still continued; and throwing himself from his horse, Ralph
darted forward, and with a single and sudden application of his foot,
struck the door from its hinges, and entered the dwelling just in time
to save its inmates from the worst of all kinds of death.

The apartment was in a light blaze--the drapery of a couch which stood
in one corner partially consumed, and, at the first glance, the whole
prospect afforded but little hope of a successful struggle with the
conflagration. There was no time to be lost, yet the scene was enough to
have paralyzed the nerves of the most heroic action.

On the couch thus circumstanced lay an elderly lady, seemingly in the
very last stages of disease. She seemed only at intervals conscious of
the fire. At her side, in a situation almost as helpless as her own, was
the young female whose screams had first awakened the attention of the
traveller. She lay moaning beside the couch, shrieking at intervals, and
though in momentary danger from the flames, which continued to increase,
taking no steps for their arrest. Her only efforts were taken to raise
the old woman from the couch, and to this, the strength of the young one
was wholly unequal. Ralph went manfully to work, and had the
satisfaction of finding success in his efforts. With a fearless hand he
tore down the burning drapery which curtained the windows and couch; and
which, made of light cotton stuffs, presented a ready auxiliar to the
progress of the destructive element. Striking down the burning shutter
with a single blow, he admitted the fresh air, without which suffocation
must soon have followed, and throwing from the apartment such of the
furniture as had been seized upon by the flames, he succeeded in
arresting their farther advance.

All this was the work of a few moments. There had been no word of
intercourse between the parties, and the youth now surveyed them with
looks of c