These Little Ones - E Nesbit

A collection of short stories for adults, mainly about children in hard times. The title references Matthew 18:6, which verse Nesbit includes as the collection's epigram, and from which we may infer a connecting theme: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Summary by Nicole J. LeBoeuf)