So I mourned for Joe , and felt that it was very hard he could not have lived to enjoy the promised refuge ; for , relying upon the charity that never fails , the Home was an actual fact now , just beginning its beneficent career . People were waking up to this duty , money was coming in , meetings were being held , and already a few poor fellows were in the refuge , feeling themselves no longer paupers , but invalid soldiers honorably supported by the State they had served . Talking it over one day with a friend , who spent her life working for the Associated Charities , she said , -- `` By the way , there is a man boarding with one of my poor women , who ought to be got into the Home , if he will go . I do n't know much about him , except that he was in the army , has been very ill with rheumatic fever , and is friendless . I asked Mrs. Flanagin how she managed to keep him , and she said she had help while he was sick , and now he is able to hobble about , he takes care of the children , so she is able to go out to work . He wo n't go to his own town , because there is nothing for him there but the almshouse , and he dreads a hospital ; so struggles along , trying to earn his bread tending babies with his one arm . A sad case , and in your line ; I wish you 'd look into it . '' `` That sounds like my Joe , one arm and all . I 'll go and see him ; I 've a weakness for soldiers , sick or well . '' I went , and never shall forget the pathetic little tableau I saw as I opened Mrs. Flanagin 's dingy door ; for she was out , and no one heard my tap . The room was redolent of suds , and in a grove of damp clothes hung on lines sat a man with a crying baby laid across his lap , while he fed three small children standing at his knee with bread and molasses . How he managed with one arm to keep the baby from squirming on to the floor , the plate from upsetting , and to feed the hungry urchins who stood in a row with open mouths , like young birds , was past my comprehension . But he did , trotting baby gently , dealing out sweet morsels patiently , and whistling to himself , as if to beguile his labors cheerfully . The broad back , the long legs , the faded coat , the low whistle were all familiar ; and , dodging a wet sheet , I faced the man to find it was indeed my Joe ! A mere shadow of his former self , after months of suffering that had crippled him for life , but brave and patient still ; trying to help himself , and not ask aid though brought so low . For an instant I could not speak to him , and , encumbered with baby , dish , spoon , and children , he could only stare at me with a sudden brightening of the altered face that made it full of welcome before a word was uttered . `` They told me you were dead , and I only heard of you by accident , not knowing I should find my old friend alive , but not well , I 'm afraid ? '' `` There ai n't much left of me but bones and pain , ma'am . I 'm powerful glad to see you all the same . Dust off a chair , Patsey , and let the lady set down .
You go in the corner , and take turns lickin ' the dish , while I see company , '' said XXXXX , disbanding his small troop , and shouldering the baby as if presenting arms in honor of his guest .
Charities Joe Patsey accident almshouse day left months paupers urchins