ONE LINK GONE.
Take the pillows from the cradle
Where the little sufferer lay;
Draw the curtain, close the shutters,
Shut out every beam of day.
Spread the pall upon the table;
Place the lifeless body there;
Back from off the marble features
Lay the auburn curls with care.
With its little blue-veined fingers
Crossed upon its painless breast,
Free from care, and pain, and anguish,
Let the infant beauty rest.
Smooth its little shroud about it;
Pick its toys from off the floor;
They, with all their sparkling beauty,
Ne'er can charm their owner more.
Take the little shoes and stockings
From the doting mother's sight;
Pattering feet no more will need them,
In and out with such delight.
Parents faint and worn with watching
Through the long, dark night of grief,
Dry your tears, and soothe your sighing;
Gain a respite of relief.
Mother's care no more is needed
To allay the rising moan;
And though you perchance may leave it,
It can never be alone.
Thus a golden link is broken
In a chain of earthly bliss—
Thus the distance shorter making
'Twixt another world and this.
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (See page 108.)