“Do you mean to say they haven’t been brought up in the Roman Catholic Church?” he asked quickly.
“They have not indeed. Shure, what good would that be doin’ them?”
“Haven’t they been baptised at all into any Church?”
“They have not.”
The Vicar felt in his pocket and produced a sixpence.
“Get them something to eat,” said he, “and then come and see me. I shudder when I think they haven’t been baptised. Have you?”
“I was when I was a child,” said she, “but I haven’t been to Mass these fifteen years. Glory be to God, what’ud I be doin’ at Mass when I might be gettin’ charity from a grand gintleman like yeerself?”
“My poor woman,” said the Vicar, “it was Christ’s wish that we should help the poor. I’m thinking, too, of the hereafter of those poor little children of yours. What hope of salvation do you think there is for them if they have never been baptised?”
“If ’tis as difficult in this world as it is to get a bite or a sup, ’tis a hard thing indeed. But what good would I be getting to baptise ’em?”