AN HEROIC RUSSIAN GIRL.

Waipawa Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 781, 26 May 1885, Page 4

AN HEROIC RUSSIAN GIRL.

It was a bard winter all over Europe, but especially hard was it away in the eastern forests of Russia. The white snow lay deep over roads, and fields, and forests, and it lay so long, and it froze so hard, that all springs were ice, and the rivers were solid as rock. In the forest was a hut, and close by the hut new baked bread was filling the air with its sweet smell ; and round about in the smell there prowled about a gaunt she-wolf aud her two famished cubs.

Two young children lived in the but, one a little baby of a few months old and one a girl of ten. She was a little housewife, and took care of her father and the baby, ller father was a woodman, and her mother was dead. She bad just laid baby down on her little bed in the corner of the room, asleep, and she is doing her bravo little best to bake some bread. In tho corner above tho bed, is a little corner cupboard ; in the middle of the room a long brick oven which is made hot by putting tire into it, not under it ; on the other side a larger bed where the man slept ; and before tho oven a little table and a couple of stools. And this was the only but for miles around. [Behind the hut was a great pile of wood for the winter fuel. The girl thought the oven wanted more wood to make it hot enough to bake tho bread ; it bad cooled while she was getting baby to sleep, so she went over the snow round the corner of the hut, under the snowy boughs of the trees, and picked out a nice long piece of wood. When she went she left the door of the hut just pulled to, and as she turned the corner, the hungry wolf saw her chance and took it. She trotted up to the door, thrust in her nose, and then entered, her cubs following. When the girl came back with her clump of wood over her shoulder, as she was about to go into the hut, there she saw tho wolf with teeth set ready to fly at her. She had all tho horror of a ten-year old child at such a sight, and would have turned and run away, but one thought suddenly struck her—-the baby ! and in that thought she forgot herself utterly, she only remembered tho baby, and the terrible savage nature of the wolf. She forgot she had nothing to protect either herself or the baby with but that clump of wood. She kept her eves, those eyes of desperate love fixed on the wolf, she struck it, she belaboured it with all her little might with her club, and was actually driving it through the doorway into the forest again, when she caught sight of the cubs by the bed sniffing at the bundle with the baby in it. Two ! she had no idea of them before, for her back had been turned on them. “Oh, the baby!” she cried in her heart, and turned upon the cubs and began to belabor them ; and the wolf followed her ; the whole three were now at tho child, one at her wrists, another at her shoulder,another leaping at her throat. She knew then that to save herself was hopeless, and a desperate resolution took possession of her. ller club fell from her hands, and with all the wild strength of her love for baby, she shook the wolves almost oft’ her, lifted up the bundle, stood on the bed and thrust the baby into the corner cupboard, shut too the door, and amid all her agony of excitement and horror, had but one thought, that she should fasten the button safely. It was done, but not one second too soon, while her bleeding fingers were fastening the door tho wolves were at her again. She was dragged backwards and fell to tho ground. When the woodsman came home he found the wolves on the body of his heroic child. Ho drove them off, took his axe ami killed them. She had just breath left to tell him how it happened, and point to the cupboard where the bady was save. Heath was very near, but even in her terrible pain she smiled when she saw him take the baby out all safe. Sho motioned to him to let her kiss it, and she kissed it and died. So you see, even a little girl may stand side by side with tho heroes of all time, through her entire self-forget l’ul ness. (Contributed to N.Z. Public Opinion.)