FOR THE CHILDREN. The Forget-me-Not's Mission.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume III, 1 October 1900, Page 38

FOR THE CHILDREN. The Forget-me-Nots Mission.

By Ethel M. Melville

Illustrated by

i < 3»|jgj|gyg||j& 0 W large and dismal the ' l^EffsSjsffPy3y over the stream. Fairest j-iijiHiSSEf e^ was s^ e ' an^ y e^ s ' ie thing to do, nothing to do," was her constant cry. " How can I be of use?" she cried. " Be content," whispered the breeze, as it flitted from flower to flower, "and your turn will come." " Be patient," said the raindrops, as they came down, splash, splash, so cool and pleasant on the grass. " See how long we have been waiting far away up in the sky to come down and refresh you all. Only be patient." " I will try, though it is so very hard," was her final resolve as she fell asleep that night. Next day, when the sun was shining warmly on the earth, and Nature was looking her sweetest, a hot little hand closed tightly round the forget-me-nots slender stem, and she was borne away for miles and miles, it seemed to her, far away into hot dusty roads, and busy, noisy streets. How strange it all was ! How different from the fragrant field she had left behind her ! But strangest of all was her captor, a ragged little street boy, with no shoes or stockings on his feet, and whose pinched, sad face told that he had seen very little joy or pleasure in his life.

W. Wright

On, on she was carried through street after street, down a dark alley, then an equally dark court, up flight after flight of rickety stairs into an attic at the top of the house. Here at least the sun seemed determined not to be shut oat, for he was shining brightly through a hole in the roof, and his beams fell on a bed in the corner, where there lay another little boy, with a wan little face and great weary dark eyes. He sat up eagerly as his brother entered, his bright, fever-lit eyes fixed on the flower. Flowers were a new and wonderful sight to him, shut up in that miserable garret, where his short life was rapidly drawing to a close. The elder lad fetched a cracked cup and some water, and placed the forget-me-not by the sick child's side. He received it with feeble exclamations of delight, caressing the petals so gently and tenderly with his thin little hands that the forget-me-not felt that surely she was of use to someone at last. And indeed she was. For in the days that followed she was a never-ending source of pleasure to the dying boy, who would remain awake for hours watching the beautiful blossom. She seemed to brighten the whole of that wretched little attic as well as the neglected occupants who had no one in the wide world to care for them. No loving mother to guide and watch over them ; only drunken and brawling men and women by whom they were only too glad to be left

unnoticed.

But the air was close and stuffy, and our little friend found it very different from the open, breezy field in which all her life had been spent. But she did not complain. She saw clearly how she was loved by the sick child, and a feeling of great happiness stole over her, fully compensating for the loss of her liberty. She tried to keep alive in the stifling air as long as possible, but day

after day she drooped and drooped, and the boy's eyes never left her as she slowly withered and finally died. The day after, the little thi*ead of flickering light was snapped asunder, and the tired spirit flew to its rest. ***** When the coroner came, and the attic was

filled with well-dressed mon, a dead dried flower was found in the dead hand. One of the gentlemen drew near, and touched it. " Throw it away ; it is of no use," observed the coroner. No use, when it brightened a sad little life, and cheered and comforted its last hours ! No use ! This well-dressed and comfortable-looking

coroner, coming straight from a luxurious home, has he, in all his lifetime, done as much as this simple flower of the field ?

0 selfish hearts, beware ! or in that Day when repentance comes too late, the terrible voice of a righteous God will sound in your ears : " Depart from Me ; for inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it not unto Me."