J. Cole | Page 7

should just see Dick, Mrs. Wilson, he is a
one-er, he is."
"Lor' bless the boy," said Mary, the housemaid; "why, if he isn't a-
cryin' now. Whatever's the matter? One minnit you're makin' us larf fit
to kill ourselves, and then you're nearly makin' us cry with your Dick,
and your great eyes runnin' over like that. Now get away, and take the
dogs their supper, and see if you can't get a bit of color in your cheeks
before you come back."
So off Joe went, and soon the frantic barking in the stable-yard showed
he had begun feeding his four-footed pets.
Time went on; it was a very quiet household just then--my husband
away in America, and my friends most of them enjoying their summer
abroad, or at some seaside place--all scattered here and there until
autumn was over, and then we were to move to town, and spend the
winter season at our house there. I hoped my dear sister and her girls
would then join us, and, best of all, my dear husband be home to make
our circle complete.
Day by day Joe progressed in favor with everybody; his size was
always a trouble, but his extreme good nature made everybody willing
to help him over his difficulties. He invented all sorts of curious tools
for reaching up to high places; and the marvels he would perform with
a long stick and a sort of claw at the end of it were quite astonishing.
I noticed whenever I spoke of going to town Joe did not seem to look
forward to the change with any pleasure, although he had never been to
London, he told me; but Dick had been once with his father, and had
seen lots of strange things; among others a sad one, that made a great
impression on Dick, and he had told the tale to Joe, so as to have
almost as great an effect on him.
It appeared that one night Dick and his father were crossing Waterloo
Bridge, and had seen a young girl running quickly along, crying bitterly.
Dick tried to keep up with her, and asked her what was the matter. She

told him to let her alone, that she meant to drown herself, for she had
nothing to live for, and was sick of her life. Dick persuaded her to tell
him her grief, and heard from her that her mother and father had both
been drowned in a steamer, and she was left with a little brother to take
care of; he had been a great trouble to her, and had been led away by
bad companions until he became thoroughly wicked. She had been a
milliner, and had a room of her own, and paid extra for a little place
where her brother could sleep. She fed and clothed him out of her
earnings, although he was idle, and cruel enough to scold and abuse her
when she tried to reason with him, and refused to let him bring his bad
companions to her home. At last he stole nearly all she had, and
pawned it; and among other things, some bonnets and caps belonging
to the people who employed her, given as patterns for her to copy.
These she had to pay for, and lost her situation besides. By degrees all
her clothes, her home, and all she had, went for food; and then this
wicked boy left her, and the next thing she knew was that he had been
taken up with a gang of burglars concerned in a jewel robbery. That
day she had seen him in prison, and he was to be transported for seven
years; so the poor creature, mad with grief, was about to end her life.
Dick and his father would not leave her until she was quiet, and
promised them she would go and get a bed and supper with the money
they gave her, and they promised to see her again the next day at a
place she named. The next morning they went to the address, and found
a crowd round the house. Somebody said a young woman had thrown
herself out of a window, and had been taken up dead. It was too true;
and the girl was the wretched, heart-broken sister they had helped over
night. Her grief had been too much for her, and, poor thing, she awoke
to the light of another day, and could not face it alone and destitute; so,
despairing, she had ended her life. They went to the hospital, and were
allowed to see all that remained of the poor creature; and Dick's
description of it all, and his opinion that the brother "might have been
just such another little chap at first as Joe,"