PRit504 AS'! A A: K-.^^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE FROM THE LIBRARY OF DR. J. LLOYD EATON @,ngef' B WicftebncBg (gXarte Coreffi Wafter (B. (f eerc 1903 iMhfr PtS^ CuFYRlGHT, I90I, BY WALTER R. BEERS HATE God!" said Angel. And having made this un-angel-like statement, she folded her little arms across her breast and regarded her horrified audience defiantly. It was a cold Sunday after- noon in December, and the Reverend Josiah Snawley was superintending a Bible-class in a small, whitewashed, damp and comfortless schoolroom in ^ngef TD?ic^e^ne66 one of the worst quarters of the East End. He was as- sisted in his pious task by the virginal Miss Powser, a lady of uncertain age,lanky and sallow- faced, with sandy locks much frizzled, and a simpering smile. The children ranged in a for- lorn row before these two chari- table persons were the misera- ble offspring of fathers and mothers whose chief business it was in life to starve uncom- plainingly. And Angel — such was the odd name given her by her godfather and godmothers in her baptism — was one of the thinnest and most ragged ^ngef'6 T»tcfte^nc66 among all the small recipients of the Reverend Josiah's in- structions, which had that day consisted of well-worn, mild platitudes respecting the love of God towards His wretched, selfish, and for ever undeserv- ing creation. She had usually figured as rather a dull, quiet child, more noticeable perhaps, than others of her condition, by reason of her very big dark eyes, small sensitive mouth, and untidy mass of chestnut- golden hair ; but she had never come prominently to the front, either for cleverness or down- right naughtiness, till now, (^ngef 6 ^k^tX)rxtBB when she boldly uttered the amazing, blood-curdling decla- ration previously recorded. ''Was that Angel Middleton who spoke?" inquired the Reverend Josiah, with bland austerity. "Say it again, An- gel ! but no, no!" Here he shook his head solemnly. "You will not dare to say it again !" "Yes I will !" retorted An- gel, stubbornly. " I hate God ! There!" A terrible pause ensued. The other children stared at their refractory companion in stupe- fied amazement ; they did not ^ngef 6 TJ7ic6e^ne66 quite understand who " God " was,being themselves but poor, weak, physically incapable lit- tle creatures, who were nearly always too hungry to think much about Infinite and Un- reachable splendors ; but they had a dim idea that whoever the Great Being whom every- one called ''God" might be, it was very wrong to hate Him ! Dreadfully wrong ! Frightfully wicked, and alarming from all points of view. After staring at Angel till they could stare no more, some of them put their fingers to their mouths and stared at Miss Powser. (^ngef e Wcfte^neee What did 5^^ think of it? Oh, she was limp with horror !— her face had grown paler, and her eyes more watery than ever. She had clasped her hands, and was looking plain- tively at the Reverend Josiah, as indeed it was her frequent custom to do. He meanwhile laid down the Testament he held, and surveyed the whole class with a glance of righteous indignation. *M am shocked !" he said, slowly, '' shocked, and pained, and grieved ! Here is a child — one who has been taught Bible-lessons Sunday after Sun- (^ngef 6 TTtcfiebneee day — who tells me she hates God ! What blasphemy ! What temper ! Stand for- ward, Angel Middleton ! Come out of the class !" Whereupon Angel came out as commanded, and fully de- clared herself. Like a small alien on strange soil, she stood in advance of the other chil- dren, her worn, bursting shoes showing the dirty-stockinged feet within, her patched skirt clinging scantily about her meagre little figure, her arms still folded across her chest, and her lips set in a thin, obsti- nate line. Something in her {^ngef 6 ^ic^c^neBB look and attitude evidently irri- tated the Reverend Mr. Snaw- ley, for he said, sharply : — " Unfold those arms of yours directly!" She obeyed ; but though the offending limbs dropped pas- sively at her sides, the little grimy hands remained firmly clenched. " Now ! " and the clergyman drew a deep breath, and taking up his Testament gave a smart rap with it on the desk in front of him. ''Explain yourself! IVbat do you mean by such wicked conduct? ^Vby do you hate God ?" (^ngef T2?icfte^ne66 Angel looked steadily on the floor, and her lips quivered. " Because IdoT' she replied, resolutely. "That's no answer 1 " And the reverend gentleman turned to his lady-assistant in despair : ''Really, Miss Powser, you should not have admitted such a child as this into the Sunday class. She seems to me quite incorrigible ; a mere insolent heathen!" Miss Powser appeared quite crushed by the majesty of this reproach, and feebly murmured something about a ''mistaken idea of character," adding as a 13 (^ngef 6 ^k^cHncBe bright suggestion that the child had better be dismissed. ' ' Dismissed ? Of course, of course ! " snorted the Reverend Josiah angrily. "She must never come here again. Such a bad example for the other children ! Do you understand what I say, Angel Middleton ? You must never come here agam ''All right!" said Angel, calmly ; "I don't care." '*0h. Angel! Angel!" moaned Miss Powser, faintly. ' ' I am so sorry to see this. I had hoped for much better things from you. Your father " 14 ^ngef ^ic^c^nczB "That's it," interrupted the girl suddenly, her breast heav- ing. "That's why 1 hate God. You teaches us that God does everything; well, then, God is killing father. Father never did any harm to anyone ; and yet he's dying. 1 know he is ! He couldn't get work when he was well, and nowthere isn't enough to eat, and there's no fire, and we're as miserable as ever we can be, and all the time you say God is good and loves us. I don't believe it ! If God won't care for father, then 1 won't care for God." The words rushed impetu- 15 ^ngef'0 Ti?icSebne06 ously from her lips with a sort of rough eloquence that almost carried conviction ; her way of reasoning seemed for the mo- ment surprising and unanswer- able. But the Reverend Mr. Snawley was equal to the emer- gency. "You are a very wicked, ignorant child," he declared sternly. "If your father can't get work, it is most probably his own fault. If he is ill and incapable, there is always the workhouse. And if God doesn't take care of him as you say, it must be because he's a bad man." i6 (^ngef 6 nQ?icSe^nc06 Angel's big eyes flashed fire. ' ' Yer lie ! " she said steadily. ''He's worth a dozen such as you, anyway." And with this she turned on her heel and left the school- room, her proud step and man- ner indicating that she meta- phorically shook the dust of it forever from her feet. Her departure was watched in ab- solute silence by her startled companions, the insulted and indignant clergyman, and the pathetic Miss Powser; but after she had been gone a moment, Mr. Snawley, turning to the rest of the class, said solemnly. 17 (^ngef ^ic^c^ncze "Children, you have seen to- day a terrible exhibition of the power of Satan. "No one that is not possessed of a devil would dare to express any hatred of God ! "Now remember, never let me see any of you playing with Angel Middleton ; keep away from her altogether, for she's a bad girl— thoroughly bad — and will only lead you into mischief. Do you hear?" A murmur, which might have meant either assent or dissent, ran through the class, and the Reverend Josiah, smoothing his vexed brow, took up his Testa- ment and was about to resume ^ncjef 6 T3?ic^ebne66 his instructions, when a little shrill, piping voice cried out, "Please, sir, I want to leave the class, sir! " *' K<9/^wantto leave the class, Johnnie Coleman ! " echoed the clergyman — ' ' what for ? " ' Tlease, sir, 'cos Angel's gone, sir!" and Johnnie stumped his way to the front and showed himself^a small, bright, elfish- looking boy of about twelve. "Yersee, sir, I can't anyways promise not to speak to Angel, sir; she's my galT' A gurgling laugh of evident delight rippled along the class at Johnnie's bold avowal, but a 19 (^ngef'e T3?ic^e^ne60 stern look from Mr. Snawley rapidly checked this ebullition of feeling. "Your gaW and the good clergyman repeated the words in a tone of shocked offence ; "John Coleman, you surprise me!" John Coleman, ragged, blue- eyed and dirty, seemed to care but little as to whether he sur- prised the Reverend Josiah or not, for he resumed the thread of his shameless argument with the most unblushing audacity. " 'Iss, sir. She's my gal, an' I'm 'er bloke. Lor' bless yer, sir ! we've bin so fur years an' (g.ngef'6 T2?ic6e^nc06 years — iver since we wos bab- bies, sir. Yersee, sir, 'twouldn't do fur me to go agin Angel now — 'twouldn't be gentle- man-like, sir !" Evidently John Coleman knew his code of chivalry by heart, though he was only a costermonger's apprentice, and was not to be moved by fear from any of the rules thereof, for, gathering courage instead of alarm from the amazed and utter speechlessness of wrath with which Mr. Snawley re- garded him, he proceeded to defend the cause of his absent ladye-love after the fashion of ^ngef'0 ^ic^etintBB all true knights worthy of their name. '' I spec's Angel's 'ungry, sir. That's wot riles 'er wrong- like. Don't yer know, sir, wot it is to 'ave a gnawin' in yer inside, sir ? Oh, it's orful bad, sir ! really 'tis, sir— makes yer 'ate everybody wot's got their stummicks full. An' w'en Angel gets a bit 'ere an' there, she gives it all to 'er father, sir, and niver a mossul for 'erself ; an' now 'e's a going to 'is long 'ome, so they sez, an' it's 'ard on Angel anyways, and " "That will do!" burst out Mr. Snawley, loudly, and sud- (^ngef 6 'Wic^c^ncBB denly interrupting the flow of Master Johnnie's eloquence, and glaring at him in majestic disdain; *'you may go." '"Iss, sir. Thank-ye, sir. Much obleeged, sir." And, with many a shuffle and grin, Johnnie departed cheerfully, apparently quite unconscious of having committed any breach of good manners in the open declaration of his sentiments towards his '' gal, " and entirely unaware of the fact that, apart from the disgust his "vulgar- ity" had excited in the refined mind of the Reverend Josiah, he had actually caused the pale 23 (^ngef T2?icfiebne66 suggestion of a blush to appear on the yellow maiden-cheek of Miss Powser ! Immoral John Coleman ! It is to be feared he was totally '' unregenerate " — for once out of the schoolroom he never gave it or his pious teachers another thought, but, whooping and whistling care- lessly, started off at a run in- tending to join Angel and com- fort her as best he might, for her private and personal griefs as well as for her expulsion from the Bible-class. For once, how- ever, he failed to find her in any of those particular haunts they two were wont to patronize. 24 ^ngef e TTic^e^neee (' c\ S'pose she's gone 'ome ! " he muttered discontentedly. ''An' she won't thank me for botherin' round w'en 'er father's so bad. Never mind ! I'll wait near the alley in case she comes out an' wants me for enny- think." And with this faithful pur- pose in view, he betook him- self to the corner of a dirty back slum, full of low tenement houses, old and dilapidated, in one of which his ''gal" had her dwelling ; and, perching himself on an inverted barrel that stood near, he began to con over a pictorial alphabet, a 25 (^ngef TJ?ic^^nc6e present from Miss Powser, which, though he knew it by heart, always entertained him mightily by reason of the strange colored monstrosities that adorned every separate letter. Meanwhile, as he imagined, Angel had gone home, — ''home" being a sort of close cupboard, dignified in East End parlance by the name of ''room," where on a common truckle-bed, scantily covered, lay the figure of a sleeping man. He was not old — not more than forty at most — but Death had marked his wan, 26 (^ngef T27icfte^ne00 pinched features with the great Sign Ineffaceable, and the struggle of passing from hence seemed to have already begun; for as he slept his chest heaved laboringly up and down with the rapid breath that each moment was drawn in shorter gasps of pain and difficulty. Angel sat close by him, and her big soft eyes were fixed with passionate eagerness on his face — her whole little, loving, ardent soul was mir- rored in that watchful, yearn- ing gaze. "How can 1?" she mur- mured to herself, "how can I 27 (^ngef 6 'tOic&e^nceB love God, when He is so cruel to father?" Just then the sick man stirred, and opening his eyes, large, dark, and gentle, like those of his little daughter, he smiled faintly. ''Is that you, Angel?" he asked whisperingly. " Yes, father ! " And taking his thin hand in her own, she kissed it. His glance rested on her lovingly. "Ain't you been to class, dearie?" "Yes, father! But " She paused — then seeing he looked anxious and inquiring, she added—'* But they don't want me there no more." "Don't want yer there no more!" her father echoed in feeble wonder, ''Why, Angel "Don't ye worry, father!" she burst forth eagerly, "it's all my fault ; 'tain't theirs ! 1 said 1 hated God, and Mr. Snawley said I was wicked, an' I s'pose I am, but 1 can't help it, and there's all about it ! I'm sick of their preachin' an' nonsense, an' it don't make you no better, nor me, an' we're all wretched, an' if it's all God's doing then I 29 (^ngef'0 ^ic^ci>ntB6 do hate God, an' that's the truth ! " A flickering gleam of energy came across the suffering man's face, and his large eyes shone with preternatural light. ''Don't ye, Angel! Don't ye hate God, my little gel ! ye mustn't — no, no ! God's good ; always good, my dear ! It's all right wi' Him, Angel ; it's the world that forgets Him that's wrong. God does every- thing kind, dearie. He gave me your mother, and He only took her away when she was tired and wanted to go. All for the best, Angel ! All for 3° ^ngef'g nOJicfte^neee the best, little lass ! Love God, my child, love Him with all your heart, an' all your soul, an' all your mind." His voice died in indistinct murmuring, but he still kept his gaze fixed wistfully on his daughter's half-shamed, half- sullen little face. She, con- tinuing to fondle his hand, suddenly asked : — '' Why was I called Angel, father ? " He smiled, a very sweet and youthful smile. *'Just a fancy o' mine an' your mother's, my dear, that's all ! We was young an' happy- like then, an' work was easier 31 (^ngef'0