5. He would try to encourage others, too, in right doing, and when
possible get new members for the league.
From the moment a man put on a button, his guards and fellow prisoners
watched to see if he would keep his promise. A framed copy of what he
promised to do was hung in his cell as a daily reminder. If a man was
strong enough to accept these five conditions, he came to be a changed
person. He wanted to do right, and he looked forward to the time when
he would be free and could once more try anew in the big world.
Many persons told Mrs. Booth her plan would never work, but one by one
men began to prove that it did. First there were dozens, then there
were hundreds of men returning to their homes or going out to succeed
in the business world.
By and by Mrs. Booth saw there should be places where the men with no
families could go when they left prison. So she started "Hope Halls."
These are homes in the different large cities of the United States.
The Volunteer Prison League has officers who manage them but the
general public is never told where these houses are.
In bygone days many men upon leaving prison have been led away by old
evil companions. Others have found no place to stay and no work open
for them because a cold, unthinking public had called them "jail
birds." Mrs. Booth wanted these men to have a chance. Today a man who
belongs to the league can, upon leaving prison, be directed to the
nearest Hope Hall. There he can stay in comfortable quarters until he
gets work. Kind friends help him and many business firms have come to
take the word of the manager of Hope Hall. They give the man work and
he goes out to take his place as a man among men.
Mrs. Booth has given her life to building up this league, and for many
years earned all the money that was needed for running expenses. She
did this by writing, and speaking in public. Everywhere she went the
people listened to her story and many were glad to help her.
Although we claim her as an American, Maude Ballington Booth was born
in a pretty little English village. Her father was the rector of the
little church, and her mother was a loving woman devoted to her home.
She died when Maude was fifteen years of age and on the moss-covered
stone that marks her grave are the words: "They that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to
righteousness, as the stars forever and ever."
From such a home the young girl went to London. There she met
Ballington Booth, son of General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.
They were married and she came to the United States with him to
interest Americans in the cause of the Salvation Army. This was a hard
task. Oftentimes the army was jeered openly. The Booths were actually
stoned while holding meetings in the streets. But this did not stop
them. Their work grew, and at last they founded the Volunteers of
America and became the head of this order.
The busiest persons generally have time to do many things. So it was
with Maude Ballington Booth, for she wrote a number of books about her
work with prisoners, as well as lovely fairy tales for her little boy
and girl. These children missed their mother very much when she went
away to speak, so the next best thing to having her at home was to
have the stories she made for them. These stories were sure to have
accounts of pet animals in them, suggesting to the Booth children
their own pets, and the following description of Snowball shows how
well Mrs. Booth could picture the feelings of an insulted pussy cat.
"The three children seated themselves by the stately white cat; slowly
the ragged coat was opened and out sprang a frisky plebeian kitten
right under the Angora's aristocratic nose. What a picture it was. The
little black kitten startled and dazed by the light and warmth, and a
great prince of a cat towering over her. Snowball was frozen into an
attitude of horror at the unexpected apparition. Every hair stood
erect and his back looked like a deformed hunch, while his yellow eyes
flashed fire.
"'Naughty, naughty Snowball,' called Baby, when the cats had gazed at
each other for a full minute. 'It's little, and it's cold and it's
hungry.'
"Whatever he thought of Baby's reproof, Snowball did think it was
time to act, and like a flash the white paw darted at the offending
kitten's ear, and, I am ashamed to say, he spit most crossly in
its frightened little face, then at one bound he sprang to the
mantle-piece and sat there growling. The children looked dismayed; the
little kitten stood looking up at its unsociable host with a sweet,
questioning little face, uttering mild little mews of protest in
answer to his thunderous growls.
"Then Brown Eyes' wrath broke, and folding the kitten in loving arms,
he said to Snowball, 'You bad, ungrateful ill natured cat, I am
surprised at you, petted and cuddled and fed on good things, you turn
and spit at a poor little kitten, who only looked up into your face
and asked you to love it. We'll go away and leave you. You can stay
there, and we'll get a saucer of cream for this kitten who is far
nicer than you, cross cat; you bad cat, we'll leave you to yourself.'
"Left to himself Snowball repented but, alas! the door was shut. The
merry voices that resounded through the house did not call him, while
through the still room sounded the voice of his taunting enemy, that
hateful clock, the words of which his conscience could so well
interpret, 'Cross cat, bad cat, bad cat.'"
For years Mrs. Booth went from place to place throughout the United
States raising money for the Volunteer Prison League, but when her
father died he left her a small fortune. Now she uses this money for
the great cause she loves, and is spared the hard work of traveling
and speaking. Those who have heard her, remember a small woman with a
soft, beautiful voice. This voice urged the world not to look at
trouble and failure, but to lend a helping hand to men and women who
want to lead a better life by following the stars of hope.
[Illustration: ANDREW CARNEGIE
Founder of Many Libraries]