"Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have
storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than
the fowls?" (Luke 12:24).



CHAPTER II

LIFE IN THE ALMSHOUSE

Few save the poor feel for the poor:
The rich know not how hard
It is to be of needful rest
And needful food debarred;
They know not of the scanty meal,
With small, pale faces round;
No fire upon the cold, damp hearth
When snow is on the ground.

--Miss Landon.

Mrs. Engler had long since given the care and feeding of the children over
into the hands of inexperienced women, who might have utterly ruined the
delicate digestive organs had it not been that the food allowed was
wholesome and the quantities too small for them to overfeed. The children,
after being provided with pewter spoons, were seated in groups around large
pans and were allowed to dip as they chose into the mixture that the pan
contained. For a time after his mother's departure baby Edwin was fed from
a cup, but as soon as he was able to handle the spoon and to toddle about