The lady interested
in him (for the woman attends her mothers' meeting) writes: 'William
would be saved from destruction, to which he is fast hastening from
unkind treatment.'
"Arthur's story is summed up in his own words: 'I saw my father kill
my mother; he stamped on her when he was drunk, and killed her, and I
cried out.' Then, turning to his new friend and protectress, the
little fellow went on: 'But when I get a big man I'll work for you,
and pay you back for taking care of me when I was a little boy.'
"The next group, clad in deep mourning, is brought by a professional
opera singer: a babe in arms, a boy and girl aged two and four,
evidently born in a much higher sphere--pretty, refined children. At
their mother's death this young woman took charge of them, their
father having promised to pay 1 pound a week for their support;--an
empty promise it proved, for the '_gentleman_' absconded, heavily
in debt to many others. The children's friend can no longer afford
to keep them, though she seems tenderly attached to them, and will not
part with the baby as long as she can maintain it. The only way open
to her was to let the children wander on the street, on the chance of
their being taken up by the police and put in the workhouse, at the
same time risking her own imprisonment if discovered.
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