Blade-O'-Grass. Golden Grain. and Bread and Cheese and Kisses.Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Blade-O'-Grass. Golden Grain. and Bread and Cheese and Kisses.
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Christmas stories; Fiction
ROBERT TRUEFIT. The remedy is simple. Commence at the right end. Train
up a child in the way it should go, and when it is old it will not
depart from it. And by the same rule, Train up a child in the way it
shouldn't go, and when it is old it will not depart from it. It is
almost time for me and Jimmy to be off. Jimmy wants to open his shop,
and I want to get home to my wife; but I'll just try to explain what I
mean. Two poor boys, one six and one nine years of age, lost their
mother; a few weeks afterwards they were caught taking some potatoes
from a garden. The presumption is, that they were hungry. The potatoes
were valued at one penny. The boys were sent to prison for fourteen
days, and the State thus commenced their education. I will conclude
with a personal experience. I had occasion to go to Liverpool some
little time ago, and on the day that I was to return to London I saw a
girl standing against a wall, crying bitterly. She was a pretty girl,
of about sixteen years of age. I went and spoke to her, and soon saw
that the poor girl was utterly bewildered. It appeared that she had
landed that morning in Liverpool, having been brought by her sister
from Ireland, and that her sister had deserted her. A more simple,
artless girl I never met, and she hadn't a penny in her pocket, nor a
friend in the Liverpool wilderness. I thought to myself. This girl
will come to harm. Hungry, friendless, pretty---- I went to a
policeman, and told him the story. The policeman scratched his head.
'Is she a bad girl?' he asked. I was shocked at the question, and said
no, I was sure she was not; that she was a simple good girl, almost a
child--and was as complete an outcast as if she were among savages.
The policeman shrugged his shoulders, and said civilly enough that he
couldn't do anything. 'What did you mean by asking if she was a bad
girl?' I asked. 'Well, you see,' he answered, 'if she was a bad girl,
and wanted to be took care of, I could take her somewhere.' 'Where she
_would_ be taken care of?' I asked. 'Yes,' he answered. 'And have food
given to her? 'Yes.' 'But a good girl,' I said, 'homeless, friendless,
and hungry----''Can't interfere with _them_,' said the policeman.
'She'll have to qualify herself for a refuge, then,' I could not help
saying bitterly, as I turned away, leaving the poor girl in her
distress; for I could do nothing, and had only enough money to take me
third-class to London. There, sir! You can draw your own moral from
these things. Many a working man is drawing conclusions from suchlike
circumstances, and the feeling that statesmen are ignoring the most
important problems of the day is gaining strength rapidly. For my own
part, I honestly confess that, without one tinge of socialism or even
republicanism in my veins, I am not satisfied with things as they are.
With these words, spoken very earnestly, Robert Truefit, accompanied
by Jimmy Virtue, took his departure. But Jimmy Virtue found time to
whisper in Mr. Merrywhistle's ear,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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