"’It’s shameful!’ Vera said. ’Why do people let such things be?’
"’God only knows!’ the clergyman answered. ’Because they are, I suppose,
too selfish to care. If they could only be made to see for themselves
the misery, it would not be tolerated; but they pay the poor-rate and
think no more about it. Would that some voice could make them hear; the
evil could so easily be remedied.’
"’It sha’n’t happen in the case you have mentioned, any way,’ Vera said;
’shall it, Agnes? We will have them here and look after them, poor
little things.’ And Agnes, whose heart was too full for words, could
only answer by getting up and kissing her friend.
"Thus it came to pass that the work began, but no one with a heart can
begin such a work of love and stop. I have known women fairly well off
start such an undertaking, and nearly starve themselves to death for the
sake of the little ones. There is always one more that must be saved;
the home is full, the money running out, but the sorrowful face pleads
too strongly, and room must be found. And so it was with Vera and
Agnes. Somerville could soon not contain its inmates. A new home was
built in the park; fresh hands had to be employed.
"There was no danger for Vera now; in such work there is no time for
weariness or sin. Little hands drag the selfishness out of those who
tend them; tiny lips satisfy the aching want of love. Happiness that
has so long evaded pursuit, comes unsought and overwhelms the givers.
Faith, never learned through doctrine, is discovered by the evidence of
a love-awakened heart when it first realizes that such as these little
ones are the angels who behold the Father’s face; and that inasmuch as
we have done it unto one of the least of these, we have done it to our
Saviour; and through Him found salvation."
*PART V*
*CHAPTER XVI*
When I next went over to spend the evening with Sydney I reminded him
that there was a room in his house which he had promised some day to
show me.
"Be patient," he answered, "you will see it before very long."
My companion was in more than usually good spirits. He was in one of
his bright, amusing, and kindly satirical moods, and for some time he
kept me in a state of nearly continual laughter by recounting his early
experiences with the sixth sense before he properly understood how to
regulate this new power.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account