re so
anxious to help the widow and the orphan, that they asked and obtained
leave to go a whole day without food, that the money so saved upon them
might be paid into the Patriotic Fund."

"And did they really starve a whole day?-- have neither breakfast, nor
dinner, nor supper,-- and all go hungry to bed?"

"They did, Neddy, _all_ the thieves in that reformatory* did; and I
doubt if amongst the hundreds of thousands of subscriptions to the
Patriotic Fund, any showed so much real generosity and self-denial as
the contribution of the reformed thieves!"

"Oh! there was hope for such men indeed!" exclaimed Neddy, the moisture
rising into his eyes. "There must have been good in them, papa, and I
should not wonder if some of them turned out really fine fellows."

"I have no doubt of it," said his father with a smile.

"And that poor boy-- yes, I hope that he may amend. Shall we hear
anything more of him, papa?"

"You know that we go out of town to-morrow. On my return I shall make
inquiries regarding him at the Ragged School, and if I find that he is
improving under the instruction which he will receive, I shall try to do
something for him."

"May I go with you?" said Neddy eagerly, "I should like to visit the
school."

"I think that I shall take you with me," replied his father.

"What a glorious thing it is," exclaimed the boy after a pause, "to
raise ragged schools and reformatories, to give the poor, the ignorant,
and the wicked, a chance of becoming honest and happy! How I should like
to build one myself!"

"It would be more practicable for you," observed the gentleman, smiling
as he rose from his seat, "to support those which are built already."**

"But, papa, I can do so little!"

"Every little helps, my son; the vast ocean is made up of drops. You may
do something yourself, and try to interest others in the cause of the
desolate poor. Were all the children of the middle classes in England to
give each but one penny a-week, no wretched boy need wander about
desolate in London, to perish both here and hereafter because no one
cared for his soul!"

[* The Reformatory in Great Smith Street, Westminster.]

[** The office of the "Ragged School Union" is at 1 Exeter Hall,
London. By this admirable society twenty-two thousand poor
children have received instruction during the past year, while
five hundred of the most destitute have been provided with homes
in refuges and reformato