noon
He sat so still and quiet by the widow 's side , his eyes intently fixed upon the clergyman , listening eagerly to every word that was spoken , every hymn that was sung , realising in his untutored mind a foretaste of that heaven of which his earliest friend had told , where hunger was unknown , and where sorrow and sighing should flee away . Once only , when the rector gave forth his text , `` Consider the lilies of the field , '' the boy grasped the widow 's hand , and whispered -- `` Be they the flowers Pollie give me ? '' Heaven and Pollie 's violets filled his heart . * * * * * Many were the happy children who issued forth from St. Clement 's on that Sabbath noon ; some hand-in-hand with loving parents , wending their way to homes of plenty , where kindly faces would be waiting to greet them ; but of the many , none were or could be happier than those three little ones who gathered round Mrs. Turner when service was over , and , walking side by side , went home to squalid Drury Lane . No well-filled table awaited _ their _ coming , only the plain and scanty fare the poor widow could offer to her child 's young friends ; but One hath said -- `` Whosoever giveth a cup of water to one of these little ones in My name , verily I say unto you , he shall in no wise lose his reward . '' And this was Sally 's first Sunday at church . Many days and weeks had passed away , much as life does with us all .