Poppy's Presents

Author of 'Christie's Old Organ,' 'A Peep Behind the Scenes,' etc.
London THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
56, Paternoster Row; and 65, St. Paul's Churchyard
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
he great cathedral bell was striking twelve. Slowly and solemnly it struck, and as it did so people looked at their watches and altered their clocks, for every one in the great city kept time by that grave old bell. Every one liked to hear it strike; but the school children liked it best of all, for they knew that with the last stroke of twelve lessons would be over, and they would be able to run home to dinner.
'Good morning, children,' said Miss Benson, the mistress.
'Good morning, ma'am,' said the girls, and then they marched out like soldiers in single file. So quiet they were, so grave, so orderly they went, almost as solemnly as the old bell itself.
But only till they reached the school door. Then they broke up into a merry noisy crowd, running and shouting, chasing each other from side to side, jumping, hopping, and skipping as they went down the street.
'Oh dear, what a noise them children do make!' said old Mrs. North, as she got up and shut her cottage door.
But the noise soon died away, for the children were hungry, and they were hurrying home to dinner.
What is that little bit of red that we see in front of the crowd? It is a little girl in a scarlet cloak, and she is turning down a long straight road which leads into the heart of the city. Let us follow her and see where she is going. She is very tidily dressed; there is a clean white holland pinafore under the scarlet cloak, and although her shoes are old, they are well patched and mended. But she is turning into a very poor part of the city—the streets are getting narrower and more crowded, and they are getting darker, too, for the quaint, old-fashioned houses overhang the pavement, and so nearly meet overhead, that very little light or air can get into the dismal street below.