Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished: A Tale of City Arab Life and Adventure by - (best self help books to read txt) đ
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On his way to this abode of the destitute, he was overtaken by a huge man with a little bit of blue ribbon in his button-hole.
âHallo! young feller,â exclaimed the man, âyouâre the chap that was livinâ wiâ Ned Frog the night I called to see âimâeh! Sam Twitter, ainât you?â
âYes,â said young Sam, blushing scarlet with alarm at the abruptness of the question. âYes, I am. TâTwitter is my name. Youâre the man that gave him the Bible, are you not, whom he turned out of his house for tryinâ to speak to him about his soul?â
âThe same, young feller. Thatâs me, anâ Reggie North is my name. Heâd âave âad some trouble to turn me out once, though, but Iâve given up quarrellinâ and fightinâ now, havinâ enlisted under the banner of the Prince of Peace,â replied the man, who was none other than our Bible-salesman, the man who contributed the memorable speechââBah!â and âPooh!â at the Gospel-temperance meeting. âWhere are you going?â
Sam, who never could withhold information or retain a secret if asked suddenly, gave the name of the common lodging-house to which he was bound.
âWell, Iâm going there too, so come along.â
Sam could not choose but go with the man. He would rather have been alone, but could not shake him off.
Entering, they sat down at a table together near the kitchen fire, and North, pulling out of his pocket a small loaf, cut it in two and offered Sam half.
Several men were disputing in the box or compartment next to them, and as they made a great noise, attracting the attention of all around, North and his friend Sam were enabled the more easily to hold confidential talk unnoticed, by putting their heads together and chatting low as they ate their frugal meal.
âWhat made you leave Ned?â asked North.
âHow did you know Iâd left him?â
âWhy, because if you was still with him you wouldnât be here!â
This was so obvious that Sam smiled; but it was a sad apology for a smile.
âI left him, because he constantly offered me beer, and Iâve got such an awful desire for beer now, somehow, that I canât resist it, so I came away. And thereâs no chance of any one offering me beer in this place.â
âNot much,â said North, with a grin. âBut, young feller,â (and there was something earnestly kind in the manâs manner here), âif you feel an awful desire for drink, youâd better put on this.â
He touched his bit of blue ribbon.
âNo use,â returned Sam, sorrowfully, âI once put it on, andâandâIâve broke the pledge.â
âThatâs bad, no doubt; but what then?â returned North; âare we never to tell the truth any more âcause once we told a lie? Are we never to give up swearinâ âcause once we uttered a curse? The Lord is able to save us, no matter how much we may have sinned. Why, sin is the very thing He saves us fromâif weâll only come to Him.â
Sam shook his head, but the manner of the man had attracted him, and eventually he told all his story to him. Reggie North listened earnestly, but the noise of the disputants in the next box was so great that they rose, intending to go to a quieter part of the large room. The words they heard at the moment, however, arrested them. The speaker was, for such a place, a comparatively well-dressed man, and wore a top-coat. He was discoursing on poverty and its causes.
âIt is nothing more nor less,â he said, with emphasis, âthan the absence of equality that produces so much poverty.â
âHear! hear!â cried several voices, mingled with which, however, were the scoffing laughs of several men who knew too well and bitterly that the cause of their poverty was not the absence of equality, but, drink with improvidence.
âWhat right,â asked the man, somewhat indignantly, âwhat right has Sir Crossly Cowel, for instance, the great capitalist, to his millions that âe donât know what to do with, when weâre starvinâ?â (Hear!) âHe didnât earn these millions; they was left to âim by his father, anâ he didnât earn âem, nor did his grandfather, or his great-grandfather, and so, back anâ back to the time of the robber who came over with Williamâthe greatest robber of allâanâ stole the money, or cattle, from our forefathers.â (Hear! hear!) âAnâ what right has Lord Lorrumdoddy to the thousands of acres of land heâs got?â (âHa! you may say that!â from an outrageously miserable-looking man, who seemed too wretched to think, and only spoke for a species of pastime.) âWhat right has he, I say, to his lands? The ministers of religion, too, are to be blamed, for they toady the rich and uphold the unjust system. My friends, it is these rich capitalists and landowners who oppress the people. What right have they, I ask again, to their wealth, when the inmates of this house, and thousands of others, are ill-fed and in rags? If I had my way,â (Hear! hear! and a laugh), âI would distribute the wealth of the country, and have no poor people at all such as I see before meâsuch as this poor fellow,â (laying his hand on the shoulder of the outrageously miserable man, who said âJust soâ feebly, but seemed to shrink from his touch). âDo I not speak the truth?â he added, looking round with the air of a man who feels that he carries his audience with him.
âWell, mister, I ainât just quite clear about that,â said Reggie North, rising up and looking over the heads of those in front of him. There was an immediate and complete silence, for North had both a voice and a face fitted to command attention. âIâm not a learned man, you see, anâ hainât studied the subjecâ, but isnât there a line in the Bible which says, âBlessed are they that consider the poor?â Now it do seem to me that if we was all equally rich, there would be no poor to consider, anâ no rich to consider âem!â
There was a considerable guffaw at this, and the argumentative man was about to reply, but North checked him withâ
ââOld on, sir, I ainât done yet. You said that Sir Cowley Crossââ
âCrossly Cowel,â cried his opponent, correcting.
âI ax your pardon; Sir Crossly Cowelâthat âe âad no right to âis millions, âcause âe didnât earn âem, and because âis father left âem to âim. Now, I âad a grandmother with one eye, poor thingâbut of coorse thatâs nothinâ to do wiâ the argimentâanâ she was left a fiâ pun note by âer father as âad a game legâthough thatâs nothinâ to do wiâ the argiment neither. Now, what puzzles me is, that if Sir CowâCrossââ
A great shout of laughter interrupted North here, for he looked so innocently stupid, that most of the audience saw he was making game of the social reformer.
âWhat puzzles me is,â continued North, âthat if Sir Crossly Cowel âas no right to âis millions, my old grandmother âad no right to âer fiâ pun note!â (âHear, hear,â and applause.) âI donât know nothinâ about that there big thief Willum you mentioned, nor yet Lord Lorrumdoddy, not beinâ âighly connected, you see, mates, but no doubt this gentleman believes in âis principlesââ
âOf course I does,â said the social reformer indignantly.
âWell, then,â resumed North, suddenly throwing off his sheepish look and sternly gazing at the reformer while he pointed to the outrageously miserable man, who had neither coat, vest, shoes, nor socks, âdo you see that man? If you are in earnest, take off your coat and give it to him. What right have you to two coats when he has none?â
The reformer looked surprised, and the proposal was received with loud laughter; all the more that he seemed so little to relish the idea of parting with one of his coats in order to prove the justice of his principles, and his own sincerity.
To give his argument more force, Reggie North took a sixpence from his pocket and held it up.
âSee here, mates, when I came to this house I said to myself, âThe Lord âas given me success to-day in sellinâ His word,ââyou know, some of you, that Iâm a seller of Bibles and Testaments?â
âAy, ay, old boy. We know you,â said several voices.
âAnd I wasnât always that,â added North.
âThatâs true, anyhow,â said a voice with a laugh.
âWell. For what I was, I might thank drink and a sinful heart. For what I am I thank the Lord. But, as I was goinâ to say, I came here intendinâ to give this sixpenceâit ainât much, but itâs all I can spareâto some poor feller in distress, for I practise what I preach, and I meant to do it in a quiet way. But it seems to me that, seeinâ whatâs turned up, Iâll do more good by givinâ it in a public wayâso, there it is, old man,â and he put the sixpence on the table in front of the outrageously miserable man, who could hardly believe his eyes.
The change to an outrageously jovial man, with the marks of misery still strong upon him, was worthy of a pantomime, and spoke volumes; for, small though the sum might seem to Sir Crossly Cowel, or Lord Lorrumdoddy, it represented a full instead of an empty stomach and a peaceful instead of a miserable night to one wreck of humanity.
The poor man swept the little coin into his pocket and rose in haste with a âthank âee,â to go out and invest it at once, but was checked by North.
âStop, stop, my fine fellow! Not quite so fast. If youâll wait till Iâve finished my little business here, Iâll take you to where youâll get some warm grub for nothinâ, and maybe an old coat too.â Encouraged by such brilliant prospects, the now jovially-miserable man sat down and waited while North and Sam went to a more retired spot near the door, where they resumed the confidential talk that had been interrupted.
âThe first thing you must do, my boy,â said North, kindly, âis to return to your fatherâs âouse; anâ that advice cuts two waysââeaven-ward anâ earth-ward.â
âOh! no, no, no, I can never return home,â replied Sam, hurriedly, and thinking only of the shame of returning in his wretched condition to his earthly father.
It was at this point that the couple had come under the sharp stern eye of Number 666, who, as we have seen, went quietly out and conveyed the information direct to the Twitter family.
For a considerable time the Bible-seller plied Sam with every argument he could think of in order to induce him to return home, and he was still in the middle of his effort when the door opened, and two young men of gentlemanly appearance walked in, bearing a portable harmonium between them.
They were followed by one of the ladies of the Beehive, who devote all their timeâand, may we not add, all their heartsâto the rescue of the perishing. Along with her came a tall, sweet-faced girl. She was our friend Hetty Frog, who, after spending her days at steady work, spent some of her night hours in labours of love. Hetty was passionately fond of music, and had taught herself to play the harmonium sufficiently to accompany simple hymns.
After her came the missionary, whose kind face was familiar to most of the homeless ones there. They greeted him with good-natured familiarity, but some of their faces assumed a somewhat vinegar aspect when the tall form of Sir Richard Brandon followed Seaward.
âA bloated haristocrat!â growled one of the men.
âGot a smart little darter, anyhow,â remarked another, as Di, holding tight to her fatherâs hand, glanced from side to side with looks of mingled pity and alarm.
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