one little boy,
with a white face and a big head, would unroll a filthy bit of
newspaper, and show some cold herring, which smelt horrid. Or another
would bring out a lump of greasy pudding, as heavy as lead. So it was
arranged that if the mother could give a few pence, varying from three
halfpence to threepence, according to her means, the children should
have dinner at the school, and for these sums it is marvellous what a
dinner they get. Beef and mutton, with vegetables, light puddings of
milk and fruit, and sometimes rich people send game, and then these
poor little gutter children have dinners like princes and princesses.

Though it is in the middle of London, there is a beautiful garden
behind, which belongs to the Duke of Bedford, and he allows them to play
there, for the house to which it belonged is now pulled down. Some of
the children go hopping about on their crutches, and even play games
upon the smooth turf under the great shady trees. After being out for an
hour, they come in and do such interesting work. All sorts of things
they make with their hands. The boys do iron work, and the girls lace;
or the boys do painting and basket-making, and the girls embroidery. So
that when they grow up and leave the school they may be able to earn a
living for themselves.

At about three o'clock the carriage comes again, and they begin to go
home. Now, cannot you fancy what a new world this is to the children?
Before they went to school they knew nothing about the world they lived
in, or about history, or about plants and animals. They had nothing to
think of to make them forget their pain. They could just sleep or lie
still all day, like little animals. Now they are bright and happy. If by
any chance they cannot go to school, or the carriage does not come,
they cry bitterly. There are other schools begun now like this one, so
perhaps in time all the children who are invalids can go to school.

Of course, there are some cases where a child is too ill to attend any
school, and then it must go to a hospital. There is one of these
hospitals in Chelsea, and it looks out over the great gray river Thames.
It is a large red-brick house, and boys and girls who can never get well
can be taken in here and made comfortable, and saved as much pain as
possible. It is a beautiful house, and it is very sad, but happy, too,
to see the children, and how bright they look. They wear little red
flannel jackets when they sit up in bed,