The Poorhouse Waif and His Divine Teacher | Page 2

several buildings, both large
and small, to provide for the needs of the people.
In the building that was known as the poorhouse proper was the main
office. It was here that Mrs. Fischer appeared. Several other rooms of
importance were also in this building, such as the dining-room and
some living-apartments, but the bakery and the kitchen were in a
building just a short distance away. And there was still another building,
a large brick structure close to the main building. This was used for the
confinement of such persons as the insane and the unmanageable, and
the doors and windows, as well as the transoms, on both the inside and
the outside were secured by iron bars. From these dark prison walls
many strange and hideous sounds could be heard at any hour of the
night or day.
In the entire establishment the furnishings were scant and poor, and in
every way things were vastly different from what we find them in the
poorhouse of our modern times. In the main office, where Mr. Engler
transacted his business affairs and entertained strangers, there was
simply a rude desk, a homemade couch without springs or mattress,
and a few rush-bottomed chairs. For years the walls had been growing
darker because of the constant use of tobacco by those who frequented
the place.

Had it not been that the steward and the matron of this home for the
poor were capable persons and able to get considerable help out of the
inmates, they could not have managed to keep up the place at all. To
conceal the fact that the poorhouse was a miserable place to stay would
have been an impossibility.
To the selfish mother it mattered not that the office within which she
was standing was an index to the entire building. Regardless of
consequences, she cared only to be freed from her burdens and
responsibilities as a mother. So the answer that Mr. Engler gave her
only stirred within her evil heart the anger and cruelty already there,
and with a fiendish glare of derision toward the one who was
endeavoring to do his duty, she took a step toward the hard couch and
threw, rather than laid, the bundle she held in her arms upon it. An
instant later she disappeared through the open doorway. When Mr.
Engler recovered from his surprize and went to look for her, he saw her
running up the road as fast as her feet would carry her.
Realizing in part the seriousness of the situation, Mr. Engler went at
once to notify his wife, and, leaving her in charge of the little one, he,
with others, set out to find the runaway mother. The task proved to be
difficult. Owing to the fact that the woman was a stranger in the
community and had gotten the advantage of her pursuers, it took some
time to find her, but at last she was returned to the infirmary and was
given orders by the authorities not to repeat the offense of deserting her
baby.
As the feeble-minded people at the almshouse sometimes caused
trouble by running off, large balls of iron had been provided to be
chained to the feet of such persons. Thus their progress would be
hindered and their escape be less probable. Still they could take a part
in the work that had been assigned them about the place. It was thought
best to use this method of securing Mrs. Fischer. When the chains were
fastened about her ankles, one of the authorities who had helped in
capturing her remarked, "I guess now you'll not raise your feet for a
while as nimbly as you have been doing of late."
That evening Mr. Engler said to his wife: "It's the strangest case I ever

heard tell of. Surely that woman has made the future of her infant son
dark and uncertain. It doesn't seem possible that any mother could treat
her child in such a shameful manner. I'm sure if that woman could get
loose this minute she'd run away again, and we'll have to watch her
closely while she's here."
"Did you see the baby's large brown eyes?" Mrs. Engler asked, as her
husband ceased speaking. "He's certainly a nice child, and it's a shame
to see him grow up among all these paupers; but if his mother doesn't
care, I don't know who will."
"Well, I don't know that it's any of our business, either, except to see
that she takes care of him while she's here, and after that I guess we can
manage some way as we always have," Mr. Engler replied. "You've got
too much to do to take any of her responsibilities on your shoulders,
and you must not try. If people will force their