And a lady sat there, toying with a red rose, rare and sweet;
As she passed she flung it from her, and it fell at Nelly’s feet.
Just a word her lord had spoken caused her ladyship to fret,
And the rose had been his present, so she flung it in a pet;
But the poor, half-blinded Nelly, thought it fallen from the skies,
And she murmured, “Thank you, Jesus!” as she clasped the dainty prize.
* * * * *
Lo that night from out the alley did a child’s soul pass away,
From dirt and sin and misery to where God’s children play.
Lo that night a wild, fierce snowstorm burst in fury o’er the land,