I saw her when she first came , a hopeful , cheerful , brave-hearted little soul , alone , yet not afraid . She used to sit all day sewing at her window , and her lamp burnt far into the night , for she was very poor , and all she earned would barely give her food and shelter . I watched her feed the doves , who seemed to be her only friends ; she never forgot them , and daily gave them the few crumbs that fell from her meagre table . But there was no kind hand to feed and foster the little human dove , and so she starved . `` For a while she worked bravely , but the poor three dollars a week would not clothe and feed and warm her , though the things her busy fingers made sold for enough to keep her comfortably if she had received it . I saw the pretty color fade from her cheeks ; her eyes grew hollow , her voice lost its cheery ring , her step its elasticity , and her face began to wear the haggard , anxious look that made its youth doubly pathetic . Her poor little gowns grew shabby , her shawl so thin she shivered when the pitiless wind smote her , and her feet were almost bare . Rain and snow beat on the patient little figure going to and fro , each morning with hope and courage faintly shining , each evening with the shadow of despair gathering darker round her . It was a hard time for all , desperately hard for her , and in her poverty , sin and pleasure tempted her . She resisted , but as another bitter winter came she feared that in her misery she might yield , for body and soul were weakened now by the long struggle . She knew not where to turn for help ; there seemed to be no place for her at any safe and happy fireside ; life 's hard aspect daunted her , and she turned to death , saying confidingly , ` Take me while I 'm innocent and not afraid to go . ' `` I saw it all ! I saw how she sold everything that would bring money and paid her little debts to the utmost penny ; how she set her poor room in order for the last time ; how she tenderly bade the doves good-by , and lay down on her bed to die . At nine o'clock last night as my bell rang over the city , I tried to tell what was going on in the garret where the light was dying out so fast . I cried to them with all my strength . -- '' ` Kind souls , below there ! a fellow-creature is perishing for lack of charity ! Oh , help her before it is too late ! Mothers , with little daughters on your knees , stretch out your hands and take her in ! Happy women , in the safe shelter of home , think of her desolation !
Rich men , who grind the faces of the poor , remember that this soul will one XXXXX be required of you !
crumbs daily day evening fellow-creature first fro garret morning night