over the
girl, caught her round the waist an' swung her over the window. I was
in such a hurry that the rope nearly took the skin off my hands; but I
landed her safe on the straw below. The old man was heavier, and not so
easy to manage; but I got him lowered safe, and then, slipping over
myself, began to descend. The flames had by that time got headway, and
were dartin' like fiery serpents' tongues out o' the windows below. One
o' them gave me a wipe in passin', an' cleared eyelashes, eyebrows, and
half the hair o' my head away. Another twined round the rope and singed
it; so that when I was half-way down, it snapped, and I came to the
ground with a thud that damaged my canvas ducks, though they were by no
means delicate. Hows'ever, the pile of straw broke the fall, and I was
none the worse.

"The gratitude o' that poor old man and his daughter knew no bounds,
specially when he found I was the father of his Clara's favourite
schoolmate.

"`Now, Captain Millet,' says he at partin', `nothin' in this world can
repay what we owe you. I know it would be insultin' to offer you money
for such service, but sometimes men like you like to help a good cause.
Will you accept of five hundred pounds for such a purpose?'

"`No sir,' says I, `I won't! But I've a sister at home who spends all
her time in tryin' to do good. If you'll be kind enough to send it to
her, she'll consider it a blessed windfall, and will lay it out to the
best possible advantage.'

"`Good,' said he, seizin' his pen an' writin' out the cheque. `Is your
sister well off?'

"`She might be better off,' said I.

"`Then pray beg her in my name to accept of a few shares in an
Australian tin-mine which came to me a few days ago. They are not worth
much, but I don't want to be troubled with them; indeed, will consider
it a favour if she will take them off my hands.'

"The old fellow said this with a laugh--so there you are, Molly, 500
pounds to the credit of your charity account an' I don't know how much
tin transferred to your own."

"O brother, how good--how kind!" Miss Millet paused here, and gazed in
silence at the cheque, for she had already begun to calculate how far
that sum would go towards the library, and the church, and the
town-hall, and the model-houses, and the gymnasium, and the
swimming-bath.

"And now, young man," said the captain, turning to our coastguardsman,
"the missin' of that steamer, at which I growled so much that day,