WHAT OTHERS SAY. 431 



There were eyes bright and merry, eyes tearful and tender, 



On the watch ere the old man had tiptoed away, 

 And some, in that meek loan of love and its lender, 



Saw the angel that stooped where the little boy lay. 

 And the soul of the child, through the tatters that wound him, 



Drew the souls of the clad and the fed to his side ; 

 Young and old brought their blessings to scatter around him, 



And crumbs from the table of God to divide. 



A boy and a man dropped a dime and a dollar, 



Women opened their purses by ones and by twos, 

 Willing hands from the mansions, both greater and smaller, 



Brought a jacket, a hat, and a stout pair of shoes. 

 All stealthy and silent, with gentle conniving. 



They laid down their gifts with the wood-sawyer's crust. 

 And lingered to see, at the sleeper's reviving. 



His bashful thanksgiving smile up from the dust. 



Soon the little boy woke. Was it bounty or plunder 



Spread out at his feet .-' Then a laugh in his ears 

 Turned his face where a glance gave the key to the wonder 



And he clasped his new riches with blushes and tears. 

 And his helpers had joy that was tender and holy 



When they looked then and after, full many a day, 

 Down the street where the toil-ridden child of the lowly 



With his cart and his treasures had trotted away. 



O, hearts that are human are human forever ! 



You may close them in caste, but they beat through the wall. 

 Wealth and want own a kinship no breeding can sever. 



And in sorrow the lowest are brothers of all. 

 Bound love needs the magic of pity to free it ; 



Men only are selfish because they are blind ; • 



When the poor help the poor, if the whole world could see it, 



The haughty would blush, and the cruel grow kind. 



— TliERON Brown, in Youth's Companion. 



