Page:A Selection of Original Songs, Scraps, Etc., by Ned Farmer (3rd ed.).djvu/23

 "Little Jim," or the Collier's Home.

The cottage was a thatched one, the outside old and mean, Yet everything within that cot was wondrous neat and clean; The night was dark and stormy, the wind was howling wild, A patient mother sat beside the death-bed of her child— A little worn-out creature, whose once bright eyes were dim— It was a collier's only child, they called him "Little Jim." And, oh ! to see the briny tears fast hurrying down her cheek. As she offered up a prayer, in thought, she was afraid to speak, Lest she might waken one she loved far dearer than her life. For she had all a mother's heart, had that poor collier's wife. With hands uplifted, see she kneels beside the sufferer's bed, And prays that He will spare her child and take herself instead; She gets her answer from the boy, soft fall the words from him— "Mother, the angels do so smile and beckon little Jim.