E. M. Barby.
We are the little brothers, homeless in cold and heat,
Four-footed little beggars, roaming the city street,
Snatching a bone from the gutter, creepin' thro' alleys drear,
Stoned and sworn at and beaten, our hearts consumed with fear.
You pride yourselves on the beauty of your city fair and free,
Yet we are dying by thousands in coverts you never see.
You boast of your mental progress, of your libraries, schools and halls,
But we who are dumb denounce you as we crouch beneath their walls.
You sit in your tinseled playhouse, and weep o'er a mimic wrong,
Our woes are the woes of the voiceless; our griefs are unheeded in song.
You say that the same God made us. When before His throne you come,
Shall you clear yourselves in His presence
On the plea that He made us dumb?
Are your hearts too hard to listen to a starving kitten's cries,
Or too gay for the patient pleading in a dog's beseeching eyes?
Behold us, your little brothers, starving, beaten, oppressed—
Stretch out a hand to help us that we may have food and rest.
Too long have we roamed neglected, too long have we sickened with fear,
The mercy you hope and pray for, you can grant us now and here.
Bolax Goes to the Convent of St. Imelda.
On July sixth Mrs. Allen took her son to the Convent, where Reverend Mother Gertrude received them cordially, and placed Bolax under the care of Sister Joseph, who was to be his special instructress for Holy Communion.
For a few days he felt homesick, but soon got over it. The good Sisters had always some work or play to occupy their pupils, so that time never seemed long or lonely to the boys.
As the school was only eight miles from Midville, some one went down every week and all the household sent letters to our boy. Reverend Mother gave Mrs. Allen an invitation to spend the three days of the retreat in the Convent with her children, as Amy's health would not permit her to remain away from her mother's care.
Convent of St. Imelda.
Dearest Mother and all at Home: You will be glad to know that I am well and happy. My First Holy Communion is always in my mind, and I am doing all I can to prepare for the great day. I went to Confession to the Chaplain Father Drumgool, and I will make my General Confession in one week's time.
Please come down to see me as soon as you get this, I want to see you particularly, bring Sister Amy, I want Mother Gertrude and the Sisters to see her. I make two visits to the Blessed Sacrament every day, and beg our Lord to make me worthy to receive Him.