Page:The cry for justice - an anthology of the literature of social protest. - (IA cryforjusticea00sinc).pdf/564

 The Sister of the Cross of Shame, She smiles beneath her cloud— (She does not laugh till ten o'clock, And then she laughs too loud.)

And still she hears the throb of feet Upon the scarlet stair, And still she dons the cloak of shame That is not hers to wear.

The sons of saintly women come To kiss the Cross of Shame; Before them, in another time, Their worthy fathers came

And no man tells his son the truth, Lest he should speak of sin; And every man cries, "Woe, alas!" And every man goes in.

Bringing the Light

(From "A Bed of Roses")

(Contemporary English novelist. The life-story of a woman wage-earner who is driven by the pressure of want to a career of shame. In the following scene she argues with a suffrage-worker, who has called upon her, in ignorance of her true character)

The woman's eyes were rapt, her hands tightly clenched, her lips parted, her cheeks a little flushed. But Victoria's face had hardened suddenly.

"Miss Welkin," she said quietly, "has anything struck you about this house, about me?"