The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lamplighter, by Maria S. Cummins

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Title: The Lamplighter

Author: Maria S. Cummins

Release Date: April 2, 2010 [EBook #31869]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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The Lamplighter

By MARIA S. CUMMINS

Author of "MABEL VAUGHAN," "EL FUREIDIS," "HAUNTED HEARTS."

A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER
52-58 DUANE STREET
NEW YORK

THE LAMPLIGHTER

CHAPTER I.

LIGHT IN DARKNESS.

"Good God! to think upon a child
That has no childish days,
No careless play, no frolics wild,
No words of prayer and praise."
--LANDON.

It was growing dark in the city. Out in the open country it would be
light for half-an-hour or more; but in the streets it was already dusk.
Upon the wooden door-step of a low-roofed, dark, and unwholesome-looking
house, sat a little girl, earnestly gazing up the street. The house-door
behind her was close to the side-walk; and the step on which she sat was
so low that her little unshod feet rested on the cold bricks. It was a
chilly evening in November, and a light fall of snow had made the narrow
streets and dark lanes dirtier and more cheerless than ever.

Many people were passing, but no one noticed the little girl, for no one
in the world cared for her. She was clad in the poorest of garments; her
hair was long, thick, and uncombed, and her complexion was sallow, and
her whole appearance was unhealthy. She had fine dark eyes; but so large
did they seem, in contrast to her thin, puny face that they increased
its peculiarity without increasing its beauty. Had she had a mother
(which, alas! she had not), those friendly eyes would have found
something in her to praise. But the poor little thing was told, a dozen
times a-day, that she was the worst-looking child in the world, and the
worst-behaved. No one loved her, and she loved no one; no one tried to
make her happy, or cared whether she was so. She was but