“It's a chance for you to help some one.”
“Oh!” said the doctor.
“It's little Sophie Stedman,” said Samuel; and he went on to tell how he had met the widow, and about her long struggle with starvation, and then of Sophie's experiences in the cotton mill.
“But what do you want me to do?” asked the other, with a troubled look.
“Why,” said Samuel, “we must save her. We must find her some work that will not kill her.”
“But, Samuel!” protested the other. “There are so many in her position—and how can I help it?”
“But, doctor! She can't stand it!”
“I know, my boy. It is a terrible thing to think of. Still, I can't undertake to find work for everyone.”
“But she will die!” cried the boy. “Truly, it is killing her! And, doctor, she has never had a chance in all her life! Only think—how would you feel if Ethel had to work in a cotton mill?”
There was a pause. “I honestly can't see—” began the bewildered clergyman.