Which death had left so pale;

Then clasping to my heaving breast
The little orphan pair,
I sank upon my bended knees,
And offered up a prayer,

That God would give me power to aid
Those children in distress,
That I might as a father be
Unto the fatherless.

Then coaxingly I led them forth;
And as the road was long,
I bore them in my arms by turns--
Their tears had made me strong.

I took them to my humble home,
Where now they may be seen,
The lad,--a noble-minded youth,--
His "sissy,"--beauty's queen.

And now if you should chance to see,
Far from the bustling throng,
An old man, whom a youth and maid
Lead tenderly along;--

And if you, wondering, long to know
The history of the three,--
They are the little orphan pair--