The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-11-07
lPbiiAdeiphiA Catholic Record.I
UNTO THESE LEAST"

1t was q street that people avoided when
possible; q street the outlet OF reeking courts
and tributary alleys; q street whereof the
houses were deus of poverty and shame. 1t
was not street where the honest poor
wrought aud lived, with bare, but neat and
weii.tended homes, but one where crime and
sloth created holes in which to hide from the
light Of day and the gaze of fellow-men. Yet
troops Of little children tbroDged its way, and
in their cunning, or greedy, or vicious gaze, no
trace of childhood's precious heritage of limo
nocepce could be found. The bitter fruit of
the tree of the knowledge Of good and evil
had already been tasted by each infant lip,
and invisible angels wept over the result.
The soiied and often bruised faces were no
moro stained than the tender souls beneath
the children were only wrecks of something
once fresh from the Master-touch whose crea-
tions are all wonderful.
One child stood apart from the rest, alb
sorbed, unconscious, evidently essaying the
mastery of something very unusual to such
outcasts, viz, thought. This child was little
girl, unkempt, unwashed, and clad in rags to
possible. What Capability of grace in bent
head or dropping figure; what possibility of
loVeliness In grimy face, God knows!
mothers hand tenderly arraying the one OF
bathing and softly stroking the other, might
have called out latent charms from both. As
1t was there she sat, proPped in crouching,
ungainly attitude against the blank wall Of
house, with filthy face held between gAunt
and dirty hands; this, appraised to an object
on an opposite fence. an ugly, repulsive, pic
ture from head to foot, save in one detail, and
PdooCt
The eyes, which dirt could not stain, which
rags could not affect which ill-usage could not
wound, were beautiful! A struggling soul
looked ont from them, light shone around its
presence, and from the curiosity of their fixed
gaze, trace Of innocence, or, perhaps, more
truly, OF Inconsistencies, softly dwelt, hiding
fog the time the bitter fruit of the bitter tree
For the rest, these eyes were of the indie
scribable gray which some people call black,
and some blue, and which can picture storm
cloud in passion, or glow with lovely light in
hal md hon fkn md nj nv koau III.
full gray, that no tint Of artists pen can paint,
nor no words Of poets verso embody, yet over
which artists dream and poets cling continu
grimy brows Of this little street Arab, all their
Gopa6ility Of soul bent on q ragged varieties
bill, futteriug from the black fence opposite;
expended on the task of learning the letters
staring from lite yellow ground.
"Hello, Nole!' cried n boys sbrill voice |;
" forgettin' IL ALI heyT
The boy was q dirty boy, n shambling boy, q
boy that looked il he skunk through life
with o eense of being continually pursued, o
eye, bot the low cunning engeudered by this
method of life.
"Oh, Gabe" she said, and the tone was an
abstracted one, and the eyes never desisted
from their study, 1.-THE last un the last! that
nm with the two bars an the cat-a-cnrnered
line down. forget it! Tell it-bez-bz-no.
Eib; what itf" Then all the light Of the
eyes were concentrated on his greedy face
he stood, regarding her with II leer. his
hands in his tat.ered pockets, through which
they showed, horny and red. as revolving Ii
As could we'll be imagined.
"Where's the stamps thenf Shell out first
Nolei Ye know Pm up to yer games"
"Ah, Gabe trust me! didn't git chance
last night an If ye gr me this one letter, IL
have 'em ALL"
"No, stree; no pay, no farming" aud h,
She sat for Q moment like one stunned, Aut
yes, tears actually rose to the questioning
eyes. But she conquered them, and agar
turned the eager gaze upon the bill.
"Zuma,' che repeated to herself, chats the
word, it's the commencement NV gu" ther
she uttered the phonetic sound of 3. "What
kin IL bet I'll make it any way"
She drew from the bosom of her ragged
dress roll of brown wrapPiug,Pa en-
veloping piece of charcoal. On this, as she
opened it, could be seen the letters of the
alphabet from a to o, pretty accurately m ade
To the end of the list she proceeded to affx the
2, copying it from the bill, and forming, as she
did so, q suggestive tableAu. An artist might
have painted the forlorn figure and it's filthy
surroundings; the curious copy spread out or
the little knees; the grOtesque pencil and the
small, brown hand guiding it. Bat the mos
look of absorbed intelligence darted to the
ragged playful at every uplifting of the
frowsy head, or the delighted and eager one
a. il dropped over its task. These were as i'm
possible to paint as they were charming to al
true lovers of Nature. To such charm as lay
in the whole scene, there had. been, from the
old gontlcmaB, not clad in the latest style, and
evidently obliviOus of appearances generally
He had fresh and ruddy and handsome face
suggestive of country air aud plenty of baths
and this was fifty set in silver waves of beard
and hair. AS he moved forward towards ouI
tableau, he revealed little lameness in the
right foot, which only served to enhance ones
interest in his quaint and portly figure, with
its blue broadoloJh suit of ancient cut, and its
butf vest, and snowy linen peepiug through
He approached the poor little figure softly
and with simplicity of awe quito refreshing
10 look upon, and gave token of his presence
by calculating in the most cautious of whis-
pers
"Childp
But the letter, with the two bars and the
cht-aeoEnered line down" was not completed,
aud the sbstraotod child never changed atti-
tude or look.
Extraordinary power of concentrate venessr -
he said. in the Same cautious whisper, bat to
himself "Pl now test her already proved
capacity for useful knowledge"
Though almost close TO her, he then ar.
ranged his two hands as q speaking trumpet,