Outcast Robin

"Who bids for the little children-- Body and soul and brain? Who bids for the little children-- Young and without a stain? 'Will no one bid,' said England, 'For their souls so p...

The sun itself seemed to be keeping holiday on the morning on which my brother opened his eyes on the world. The day was a June day, one of those days when the people who are fo...

The father of all this family, and the widower of this dead woman, came in about ten o'clock, a good deal the worse for drink; but this being Timbs' normal condition, at least h...

It was past ten o'clock when Timbs tottered home, and threw himself on the bed. The children, even Molly and Patty, were asleep, tired out. The new baby never stirred; the drunk...

Robin having been thus early in life deprived of both his parents--of his mother by death, of his father by desertion--it became our duty to provide for him. He, being bone of o...

Robin might have gone on, on this uniform plan; have been prepared for the world of which he knew nothing, on this uniform pattern; his dress, food, education, moral training, b...

Helen's history was this--a clever, bright girl, wanting in principle, wanting in every religious thought, she grew up without even proper moral training. She was an only child....

Such a thing as a pauper woman stealing an unknown orphan child from the workhouse had never been heard of; such a case had certainly never been brought before the guardians; th...

It is just possible that had these events happened yesterday instead of a few years ago, Helen might not have succeeded in carrying out her design, but as it was she secured her...

One day she was lying on her bed. It was a sultry July day, and the woman, weary in body and soul, had thrown herself there hoping to obtain a little rest. Although she had once...

This state of things continued until Robin was eight years old. During all these years he and Helen had clung firmly to each other. He called her, and believed her to be, his mo...

The next morning Helen got up early, gave Robin his breakfast of cold ham which she had bought in slices, tea and bread and butter. She also made a capital meal herself. Having...

Robin waited for Helen for an hour--for two hours. By the end of this time he was tired at playing pitch-and-toss--tired also of waiting for his only friend. He was not at all u...

He saw the disreputable-looking child, observed that he stood almost inside the church porch, and thought it a nice opportunity for holding forth to this young sinner on the err...

That night Robin, for the first time, as far as man was concerned, utterly friendless, lay down under an archway to sleep. He had often slept under archways, and his position ou...

That night Robin slept under a haycock. He slept very soundly, and far more comfortably than he would have done had he remained in London. Nevertheless, he awoke the next mornin...

One day in the bitter month of January, after lying under an archway all night, he got up, feeling very stiff, sore, and hungry--oh! he was awfully hungry. The night before he h...

"Of the hearts that daily break, Of the tears that hourly fall, Of the many, many troubles of life That grieve this earthly ball-- Disease and Hunger and Pain and Want, Now I dr...

Forgetting in an instant both his hunger and his weakness, Robin lifted the little child into his arms. She was very pretty; she had golden curls peeping out under her fur cap,...

"Now, then, young warmint, what h'ever is your little game? Why, I never!"--as his eye fell on Dolly--"ef this ain't Colonel L'Estrange's child, and the whole place in a hue and...

Robin put the penny into his mouth for safety. Then he sat for a long time listlessly on the doorstep. Something between snow and drizzle was falling steadily from the sky, but...