Little Freddy And  His  Penny.


"MOTHER, I've  got  a  penny;  may  I  go 

and spend it?"  asked little Freddy one  day, 

as  he twirled  the new bright coin  in  his 

fingers.  

"What  do  you  wish  to  get  with  it,  my 

son?"  asked his mother.

"Oh!  I don't know," said  he,  casting  his 

eyes down.  "A stick of candy."

"You  know,  Freddy,"  said  his  mother, 

"I don't like you to eat candy; and there is 

nothing  else  you  can  get  for  a  penny  that 

you will  care for  at all, five minutes after you 

get  it.  I do wish, my son,  that  your  pennies 

did not trouble  you so much!"

"Trouble  me,  mother!  How do  they 

trouble me?"

"As soon  as  you  get  one,  you  want  to 

spend  it, Freddy;  and  as  you  cannot do  so 

without  displeasing  me  or  doing  yourself 

harm,  I  think  they  are  more  trouble  than 

pleasure to  you."

"Oh, dear!"  said  Freddy, throwing  himself 

on  the  floor, and  drawing  a  long  sigh, 

"I don't know what to do.  I am sure I could 

spend my money."

"Freddy," said his mother," did you ever 

think how much good  your pennies might do 

if you would  only save  them  till  you  got  a 

good  many  of them together,  and  then  give 

them to some poor person, or buy a nice book

to give to some poor child who has no  books, 

as  you have?"

"Why, mother, I never thought of that," 

said Freddy, his face  brightening up.  "I'll 

try  to  save  my  pennies  after  this,  and  see 

what good I can  do with them."

Freddy ran into his own little  room  and 

dropped  his  penny into  a  small  box  which 

stood  on the  table.  After this, he went on 

carefully gathering up the fragments.  Whenever

  a  penny  was  given  to  him,  he  would 

put it into  a  box.  He told his  mother  one 

day that the  pennies  didn't trouble him  any 

"more,  since  he  had  found  out  what  to  do 

with them.  He  liked to  get money and save 

it, that he might  do  good  with it.

One  day,  about two  or three months  after 

this,  Freddy  came  home  from  school  in  a 

great  hurry.  He  ran  into  the  house,  and 

without stopping to speak to  any one, rushed 

into  his  own  room,  seized  his  money-box, 

emptied  it,  and  was  off  again  before  his 

mother had  time to  notice what  he was  doing. 

In  about  half  an  hour  he  came  back 

again, looking very bright and happy.

"Why, Freddy," said  his  mother,  "what 

does  all  this mean?  Why did  you run into 

the house  and fly  out again without stopping 

to speak to any one?"

"O mother, please  excuse  me.  I was in 

such  a  hurry I forgot  all  about it.  I wanted 

my pennies to buy  a new slate for little Sally 

Brown.  She fell down and  broke  hers  just 

as  she  was  coming  out  of the  school-room. 

You know the  people she  lives with  do not 

love  her,  and would have whipped her if she 

had  carried  home  the  broken  one.  So  I 

told  her  not  to  cry,  but  to  walk  slowly  on, 

and I would  get her a  new one in  a few 

minutes. 

   I am so  glad, mother, that I followed 

your  advice  and  saved my pennies."

Freddy remembered his mother's good  ad- 

vice in  after  life.  He kept on  gathering  up 

the fragments,  and  in  this  way often  had  it 

in his  power to  do  good to  others. 





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