Nicholas acts heroically in this passage and saves a child from being burned. By doing that, Nicholas shows again that he is willing to put himself in harm’s way to help others, even if he does not know who he is helping. That characteristic marks Nicholas as fundamentally different from people like Squeers and Ralph, who don’t seem to do anything unless they see a way that it will somehow benefit themselves. Nicholas’s heroism also effectively silences the rumors that had circulated just moments before.