“Perhaps not, Ernest. At any rate, I must try. Go now, my son, for I have no bread to give little Rosy for her dinner; and you, too, will soon be hungry.”
The heart of the boy swelled almost to bursting, as he obeyed his mother’s command. For many weeks she had been stretched on the bed of sickness; and the kind physician, whom she was at length obliged to call in, had said, in Ernest’s hearing, that she needed rest; that such constant exertion would certainly cause her death.
“And now she has sent me for the sewing again,” sobbed the poor child, “and I know it will kill her: and then, what will become of poor little Rosy and me. Oh! how I wish I was older. If I could only earn a very little, it would be some help. Is there nothing in the world that little boys can do?”
As Ernest said this, the shrill cry of a match boy attracted his attention; and a bright thought entered his mind.
He could carry a basket, surely. It could not be so heavy as the baskets of wood and blocks which he often picked up around the new buildings for his mother. And he could call matches, and sell them, too, and take the money to his mother. And then, how comfortable she would be; and she would not have to work so hard.
Pleasant visions of tea and bread, and even of a pound of butter, passed before Ernest’s eyes; but then an unexpected difficulty arose. Where was the sum necessary for the outfit to come from? It certainly did not need a very extensive capital; but dollars, or even shillings, were hard to find. Ernest had not answered the question to his satisfaction, when he found himself at the door of the building, where he was to obtain the work for his mother. There was little trouble in making the desired arrangement. Mrs. Lawrence was well known at the establishment as an excellent workwoman; and the work, and the dollar in advance, were readily furnished.
Encouraged by this success, Ernest involuntarily exclaimed,
“Oh, how I wish that some one would lend me a dollar!”
“And what would you do with a dollar, my little man?” inquired a gentleman standing by, attracted by the earnestness of the boy’s manner.
Ernest blushed deeply, but answered, in a firm tone,