The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-02
MARY

Mary Elizabeth was a little girl will
q long name. She was poor, she wa
sick, she was ragged, she was dirty, sh'
was cold, she was hungry, she wa!
frightened. She had no home, she hat
no mother. she had no father, she hae
no sister. she had no grandmother, shf
had no kitten. She had no supper, sht
had no dinner, she had had no break
fast. She had no sAocs, she had M
hood, she had no mittcns, she had nc
tiannels. She had no place to 60 to, anC
nobody to care whether she went or not,
In fact. Mary Elizabeth had not much
Of anything but a short pink calico
dress. q little red cotton and wool shawl,
and herSlong name. Besides this she
had a pair of Old rubbers, too large for
her. Thew Topped on the pavement as
she walked.
She W., walking up Washington
street in Boston. 1t vas late in tn;
afternoon Of a bitter January day. AL.
ready the lamp-lighters were coming
with their long poles, and gaslights be.
gan 10 aash upon the grayness-neithe,
day nor night-through whichthe child
watched the people moving dimly, with
a wonder in her heart. This wonder
was as confused rs the half-light in
which the crowd hurried by.
God made so many people," thought
Mary Elizabeth. she must have made
so many suppers. Seems rs if they
ought to been one for one extra girl"
But she thought this in q gentle way
very gentle tor 4 girl who had no shoes,
no fiannels, no hood, no home, no
mother, no bed, no supper. She was a
very gentle little girl. All girls who
hadn't anything were not like Mary
Elizabeth. She roomed with a girl out
toward Charlestown who was different.
That girls nam . was 10. They slept
in a box that an Irish woman let them
have in an old shed The shed was too
cold for her cow, and she couldn't use
it; so she told 10 and Mary Elizabeth
that they might have it rs we'll as not.
Mary Elizabeth thought her very kind.
There was this difference between 10
and Mary Elizabeth; when 10 was
hungry she stole; when Mary Elizabeth
was hungry, she begged.
One night Of which I speak, she beg
geo mar. 1t is very wrong to beg. we
all kn"w. 1t is wrong to give to beg
garS, we all know. too; we have been
told so q great many times. Still, if !
had been as hungry as Mary Elizabeth,
| presume 1 should have begged, too.
Whether | should have given her any
thing if I had been on WASHINGTON street
that January night, how can I tell?
At any rate, nobody did. Some told
her to 60 to the orphans home. Some
said: Ask the police" Some people
shook their heads. and more did moth.
ing at al. One lady told her to 20 to
the St. Priscilla and Aquila society, and
Mary Elizabeth said: "Thank q
ma'am." politely. She had never heard
of Aquila and Priscilla. She thought
hey must be policemen. Another lady
babe her goto an office and be registered,
and Mary Elizabeth said: "Ma'am?"
So now she vas shutting up Wash
lnston street, might say Hopping up
Washington street-in the old rubbers,
and the pink dress and red shawl. not
knowing exactly what to do next; peep
ing into peoples faces. timidly looking
away from them; hesitating; heartsick
-for a very little girl can be verv
heartsick-older, she thought every
minute, and hungrier each hour than
she was the hour before. Poor Mary
Elizabeth!
PoorSSMary Elizabeth left Washing
ton street at last. where everybody had
homes and suppers. without one extra
one to spare for ~a;little girl, and turned
INTO n short, bright, snowy street,
where stood Il great hotel. Everybody
IN Boston knows, and a great MANY
neupic out of Boston know, that hotel:
IN fact, they know it so we'll THAI I viii
not mention the name of it, because II
wcs against the rules of the house for
beggars to be admitted, and perhaps
the proprietor would not like it if I
tolo now this Il especial little beppar
got into his meteorological house. In
aeed, precisely how she got in nobody
knows. Whether the doorkeeper was
away or busy, or sick, or careless. or
whether the head-waiter at the dining
room doorwas so tall that he couldn't
see so short q beegar, or whether the
cierK at the desk was so noisy that he
couldn't see so still 4 .egear' Dr. how.
ever it was. Mary Elizabeth did cot IN
by Inc doorkeeper, past the head
waiter under the shadow of the clerk
lover IN" smooth slippery marble
door. The child crept on. She came
TO the office door, and stood still. She
ooEed around with her wide ewes. She
MAD never seen a place like that. Cen
tIcmcn sat in it smoking and reading.
ihey were all warm. Not one of them
looked as if he had had no dinner. and
no breakfast, ard no supper
How many extra suppers." thourht
Inc little girl, lit must ba' taken to
aeea EN- AL" She pronounced it Eek.
try" How many extry suppers. 7
guess maybe there'll be one for me in
There was q little noise, a yerv little
one. strange to the warm. bright. we'll.
ordered room. 1t was not the rattljno
OF the Boston Advertiser, or the Tran,
SCRIPT, or the Post; it was not the SLIGHT
rap-rapplng of a cigar stump. as The
asNes Tell from some ones white hand.
nohody coughed, nobody wore r.
Wa, Il different sound. II was tho
souno OF an Die rubber, much too large,
hopping on the marble floor. Several
gentlemen glanced at their own well.
shod and we'll brushed feet, then up and
around the room. "A"
Mary Elizabeth stood in the middle
OF it, in her pink calico dress, and tho
red. plaid shawl was tied oyer her head
and about her neck with a ragged tin
pet. She looked very funny and ronnd
behind like the wooden woman in
Noah's ark. Her bare feet showed in
the Old ruobers. She began to shuttle
about the room, holding u one purple
little hand.
One or two OF 1.-THE gentlemen laughed;
some frowned; more did nothins at
all; most did not notice, or did not
seem to notice, the child. One said:
Nv mats the matter heel?"
Mary Elizabeth Topped on. She
went from one to another. less tjm;SIv.
a kind OF desperation had taken nnsses'
sion OF her. The odors of he dining
room came In, Of strong, h". coffee. and
strange. roast meats. Mary Elizabeth
thought OF 10. 1t seemed to her sma
was so hungry, that if she could not get
n supper she should jump up and rim
and rush about. and snatch somethinv
and steal like 10. She held out her
hand, but only said: :
I'm hungry"
A gentlemen called her. He was the
gentleman who had asked What's the
matter here?" He called her in behind
his New York paper, which was big
enough to hide three like Mary Eliza
beth, and when he saw that nobody
was looking he gave her a fve-cent
piece, in 4 hurry, as if he bad done a
sin, and quickly said: