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hat other waiting Sufferers might have a chance to live. With rest at home the healing work begun Would one day be complete. Ye men of wealth, And all that generous give, with all that halt, Herein your golden opportunity Doth lie. A home you have prepared for them That leave the prison cell, and this is well. But what awaits the convalescent widow And the orphan, fighting off the wasting plague? Suspicion--dread--a refuge craved for vainly Here and there--a battle hopeless, lost. Awake, awake! Oh, give the shelter sure A child would give to any famished waif! Oh, wake, compassion, wake! When David, big With joy, returned, the wind sang in the trees, The flowers, red and white, a welcome smiled, The cottage seemed to be a prince's home, And mother in her loveliness a queen, While in the mother's eyes her child appeared As if a shepherd lad, he looked so strong, So lithe, and ruddy. But the only flock That David had consisted of a kitten, Now a cat renowned of tiger-stripe And fat. And once again the cottage-home Gave foretaste of the other, deathless, pure, And glad, for love was there. With quenchless hope The happy widow bravely bent her shoulders To the yoke again. She had her boy To live for, work for, love, and he would be A man some day, and strong, when she would lean On him as he had leaned on her. And yet The yoke was heavy, and grew heavier As vigour waned. In spite of hope and will She craved for rest. Or even if the wage Were better, labour could be lessened And give more of rest. ON STRIKE One day some workmen Struck for better pay. And David wondered What it meant to strike. "What is it, mother?-- Do they hit the men that give them work?" The mother smiled. "No, no, my child, they merely Rest or cease from work to force their masters Into giving better pay to get them Back to work." A happy thought now seized him-- "Oh, mother, strike, and then the people sure Will give you better pay." The mother smiled, But sighed and said, "My darling boy, if I Should strike, a score of women poor are ready, Even glad, to take my place, perchance for less." The boy was disappointed, and his heart Was sad. But "strike," that odd word strike, as meaning Rest from work, or stopping work, clung fast To David's mind. Apart from b
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