SAVED BY LOVE.
SUSIE could not understand the alteration in Elfie, but altered she
certainly was. Sometimes she would stay away for two or three days
together, and then come home and be as affectionate as ever, and give
Susie all the money she had been able to get; but she would never tell
her how she got it or where she had been. Then, after staying about in
the same neighbourhood, she would go off no one knew where, leaving
Susie to lie listening for her to come home at night, and to feel very
dull and lonely by herself.
Poor Susie had other anxieties to trouble her, too, besides those she
suffered on Elfie's account. Work was becoming scarce; and soon after
the winter set in, she was told she had better look out for something
else to do, as they could not give her the sewing much longer.
"What shall I do—what can I do?" said Susie, when she told Elfie of
this.
"I must get some more money," said Elfie. "I daresay I can get enough
for both of us, and then you need not do this work."
"But can't I help you?" asked Susie. "I shouldn't like you to do
everything."
"You can't help me get money," said Elfie evasively.
"Oh, I won't mind going into the market with you, if you'll ask the men
to let me mind the baskets as well as you," said Susie.
Elfie laughed. "You couldn't," she said.
"Oh yes, I could—I would," added Susie. "I'd do anything to earn some
money."
"Could you fight the boys if they came to take the things?" asked Elfie.
Susie shook her head, and looked greatly disappointed. "Oh, what can I
do?" she said. "This is the last lot of shirts I shall have to make,
and I must do something to earn some money."
Elfie thought for a minute or two of all the means she had tried to
earn money, but there was only one in which Susie was likely to succeed.
"You might clean doorsteps," she said slowly.
"Oh yes; mother taught me how to clean the hearth and scrub the floor,"
said Susie quickly.
"Can you clean knives and forks as well?" asked Elfie.
Susie nodded. "I know how to do all sorts of cleaning," she said.
"I don't," said Elfie; "I can just clean steps. And so when the people
asked me to clean the knives and forks, and I couldn't, they wouldn't
let me do the steps. But if you can do all sorts of work, you can soon
get some. I'll show you how to manage."
Elfie kept her word. As soon as the last bundle of shirts was carried
home, and before the money was expended, the two girls went out
together in search of some employment for Susie.
A short distance from Fisher's Lane there was a respectable
neighbourhood, where the people seemed to pride themselves on the
neatness of their doorsteps, but where very few could afford to keep
servants to clean them. Here Elfie had often earned a few pence, and
might have gained more, if she could have done more than clean the
steps. For occasionally she had been asked to clean knives and forks,
and windows. There she brought Susie, and boldly knocked at a door,
asking if they wanted the steps cleaned.
"Not to-day," answered the woman; "and besides, the girl who cleans my
steps must do the knives and forks as well."
"She can clean knives and all sorts of things," said Elfie, pushing
Susie forward.
The woman looked at her. "Have you learned to scrub?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," answered Susie quietly.
"Well, then, you may come to me to-morrow and I'll give you something
to do."
Susie was delighted, and Elfie looked pleased. "You'll be sure to get
on now," she said complacently.
"Do you clean all these steps?" asked Susie, looking down the neat
quiet street.
Elfie laughed. "I don't clean steps now, I tell you," she said, rather
sharply.
"Why not?" asked Susie; "Do you get so many baskets to mind now?" she
asked.
"I don't mind baskets either," said Elfie fiercely. "I'm just street
rubbish—just what people said I was long ago; and I don't care a bit.
No, I don't care; and I won't care," she added, "though you do talk
about that school, and try to coax me to go with you."
Susie looked at her angry face in silent surprise. What could have
provoked this outbreak she could not tell, for she had not ventured to
mention the Ragged School to her for some weeks past, although she had
not given up all hope of persuading her to go with her.
"Elfie, what's the matter—what do you mean?" she asked.
Elfie looked somewhat subdued. "Why, you're not to bother me about what
I do to get the money," she said, rather more quietly. "I cleaned steps
as long as I could, but I never had anybody to teach me to do things
like you had; and then the people in the market called me a thief, and
I couldn't get the baskets to mind."
"Never mind, Elfie; I know you ain't a thief, and I love you," said
Susie, in a gentle, soothing voice.
But Elfie shrunk away from the proffered caress. "I'm bad, I tell you,
and don't want you to love me."
"Oh, but I will love you, even if you are bad," said Susie with a smile.
The altercation ended, as usual, in both girls promising they would
never leave each other; but a feeling of uneasiness was left in Susie's
mind, and she could not get rid of the wish to know more about the way
in which Elfie spent her time now. She loved her companion very dearly,
in spite of her strange behaviour sometimes, and she wished Elfie would
tell her how she got the money she brought home. It was often silver
now, as well as pence; but the possession of it never seemed to give
her any pleasure, and she was sure to be fierce and angry if she asked
where it came from, and would refuse to eat anything that was bought
with it!
This was very puzzling to Susie, and the more she thought about it, the
more unhappy did she become. And yet she was afraid to tell Elfie of
her unhappiness, for fear she should put her oft repeated threat into
execution, and never come home any more.
She was earning a little money still herself, but she could not depend
upon earning a regular amount as when she did the sewing; for people
did not want their steps cleaned every day. She managed to give
satisfaction in this new work, and the first to employ her, recommended
her to several neighbours; but it was only one or two days a week that
she was wanted, and the rest of her time passed very slowly if Elfie
did not come home all day.
One morning Susie thought she would walk a little further, and venture
to inquire in another direction if a girl was wanted to do house work.
She had heard that girls sometimes could get a place to go to every
morning, and have part of their meals each day. Now, if she could do
this it would be so much pleasanter, and she would not mind how hard
she had to work; and she made up her mind to inquire for such a place
as this before she left home.
Which way to turn she did not know, and she stood at the top of
Fisher's Lane looking up and down the road debating this point, until
at length she lifted her heart in silent prayer to God to guide her
aright. Then she walked cheerfully on down the road for some distance,
until she came to some quiet side streets, and at the corner of one of
these, she went into a grocer shop, and asked if they knew any one who
wanted a girl.
The man asked her how old she was, and what work she could do; and then
told her his wife wanted some one to help her with the work in the
morning, and asked her to step into the back parlour and speak to her.
Susie's heart beat high with hope as she went into the room, while the
grocer called his wife. Surely God had directed her steps, that she
should hear of what she wanted so soon!
The grocer's wife asked Susie a good many questions, but seemed to be
satisfied with her answers. She could not, however, quite decide about
taking her, she said; she must talk to her husband first: she did not
know what he would say about taking her without a character, and from
such a bad place as Fisher's Lane, too, and so she must come again the
next morning.
Susie promised to do so, hoping the answer would be favourable, for
she thought she should be very comfortable working under such a kind
mistress; and then the wages offered—eighteen-pence a week and her
breakfast and dinner—seemed to promise almost riches. Her heart was
light although it trembled with anxious expectation as she went through
the shop again.
Just as she reached the street she noticed there was a little commotion
lower down—a group of boys and girls, and a policeman half dragging,
half carrying somebody along. Susie's heart almost stood still as she
caught sight of the little ragged culprit, and she could only totter
forward a few steps past the grocer, who had stepped out on to the
pavement, when she became sure it was Elfie in the policeman's hands!
"O Elfie, Elfie I what is it; what is the matter?" said Susie, darting
forward.
At the sound of her voice Elfie ceased her struggles. "Go away, Susie,"
she muttered hoarsely, staring at her wildly.
"No, no, I can't go away," said Susie, trying to catch hold of her
frock. "Tell me what it is, Elfie."
"No need to ask what it is," laughed two or three boys: "she's a
regular little thief, she is; but she's caught at last, and serve her
right."
Elfie looked defiant, and renewed her kicking and struggling; but Susie
burst into tears. "Oh, don't take her away," she sobbed, appealing to
the policeman; "oh, please let her come home with me, and she'll never
do it any more."
"Home with you!" said the man roughly. "Then you're one of the Fisher
Lane thieves too, I suppose?"
Susie's pale face flushed and a look of shame stole over it; but still
she did not attempt to leave Elfie's side, although she knew all that
crowd of boys and girls were staring at her and calling her a thief as
well as Elfie.
"Why don't you go away, Susie? I don't want you; I never want to see
you any more," said Elfie, in a hard, defiant tone.
But Susie did not go away. They had got into the broad open road now,
and everybody turned to look at them—looks that seemed to crush poor
Susie and make her heart almost stand still with horror and anguish;
but still she kept on walking in the centre of the little crowd.
"If Elfie has been stealing, you must take me up too," she said to the
policeman, "for I had part of the money."
"I daresay you did. There's a nice lot of thieves round in Fisher's
Lane, I know," said the man.
And as the gates of the police station were reached, he took good care
that they should close on Susie too.
She had no wish to escape, although she trembled as they entered a room
where another man asked their names and where they lived.
While this was being done, the policeman who had brought them,
whispered to one of the others, and then they were taken to a dark room
and locked up. Elfie screamed with terror as the door closed, and they
were left standing there in the cold, dark room, with only the rift of
daylight that struggled through the grating high up in the wall. Susie
shuddered, but she was not so frightened as Elfie, who fell sobbing on
her neck.
Susie clasped her arms round her. "What is it, Elfie? What have you
done?" asked Susie in a whisper.
"Just what they said. I've done it many a time," sobbed Elfie; "but I
didn't do it to-day, for I saw somebody coming, and put the boots down."
"O Elfie! You've been stealing," said Susie sadly.
Elfie tried to twist herself away from Susie. "Why don't you say you
hate me? I know you do," she said.
"No, I don't, Elfie, or else I shouldn't have come to prison with you,"
said Susie, holding her more tightly in her arms.
Elfie yielded to the loving embrace and sobbed again. "That's the worst
of it," she said. "I shouldn't care so much for what the policemen
could do to me, if you didn't know about it."
"But God would know, if I did not," said Susie, in a gentle whisper.
Elfie shuddered. "Does God know everything?" she said.
"Yes; everything we say and do," answered Susie. "He knows how many
times you stole things, although you may forget."
"Well, I don't care," said Elfie defiantly. "He don't love me."
"O Elfie, he does; and it makes him sorry, and angry too, when we do
anything that is wrong;" and Susie burst into tears.
"Don't cry, don't cry, Susie, and I'll never do it any more. I'll try
and get some honest work, though it is so hard," said Elfie, and her
tears broke out afresh. The two sat down together on the hard, cold
floor, and with their arms round each other's necks, Elfie promised
never to steal again, if Susie would leave off crying and love her
still. "I will try to be honest, and mind the baskets, and clean
steps," she sobbed. "But they called me a thief when I wasn't; and then
when we wanted that twopence for the rent, and I couldn't get it any
other way, I thought I'd steal it, only you shouldn't know."
"O Elfie, did you steal that sixpence?" asked Susie.
Elfie sobbed. "I stole some things and sold 'em to get that," she said;
"that was the first time since I'd known you," she added.
"Did you steal before?" asked Susie.
"Yes, sometimes, when I was very hungry. And they knew it at the Ragged
School; that was why I wouldn't go with you," said Elfie, who seemed
determined to make a full confession now.
"What did you steal?" asked Susie.
"All sorts of things—anything I could see in shops and run away with.
I never felt bad about it before; but when I took the things to get
that sixpence for the rent, I felt I was wicked, and God seemed to be
looking at me all the time, though I wanted to forget all about him."
"Yes, God was looking at you," said Susie; "and he was sorry about you
too—more sorry than I can be, because he loves you more than I do."
"More than you do!" repeated Elfie. "He can't, for you've come to
prison with me, though all the people were looking at you and calling
you a thief."
"Yes, he has," said Susie. "Don't you remember I told you about the
Lord Jesus being God as well as man? Well, he came down from heaven to
die for our sins—to save us just because we had all been doing such
wicked things as stealing, and telling lies, and forgetting him. But
to do this he had to suffer a dreadful, cruel death. And he wasn't
compelled to do it either, for he did not deserve it; it was us who
deserved it, but he loved us so much that he took our punishment
instead."
"But he won't love me now," said Elfie. "It's no good telling me about
this now."
"Yes, it is. Elfie, if you will only ask him to help you to be honest
in future," said Susie.
"But I've been stealing—I've done such lots of bad things," said Elfie.
"But Jesus will forgive them all, if you ask him," said Susie quickly.
"He loves you still, Elfie; though you've been trying to forget him,
he hasn't forgot you. He wants you to believe in his love and love him
too."
"O Susie, are you sure about it? Are you sure Jesus will love me as
much as you do?" asked Elfie.
"He loves you a great deal more than I do. That's why God wishes us to
love each other, that we may understand his love," said Susie. "Mother
used to say we could never understand God's love, if it wasn't for
having father and mother or brothers and sisters to love us."
"I never had a father and mother to love me," said Elfie. "I never had
anybody but you, Susie."
"Never mind; I'll be your sister, and love you," said Susie.
"And then, perhaps, by-and-by I shall understand about God's love,"
whispered Elfie, as she laid her head Susie's shoulder.