The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1869-09-10

y
heavier, than an old one there seemed
10 be more of ii; there were no disgrace
ful patches of black about it, such as
spoke of u sojourn in dust-bin, in the
till of Il rag-shop, or in the purse of an
enconomical sweep. The features of the
Queen upon it were not disHgured by
scars, crosses, or knife-marks to prove
that its former possessors suspected the
| honesty of their familiars, and were
obliged for prudence sake to mark their
coins. 1t had no unseemly holes bored
in it, and no Hebrew had sweated it to
the thinness of a bit of tin. 1t had
everything in its favor--beauty, youth,
distinction, and novelty. For you must
remember it was my first sixpence, the
| first coin upon which had ever gazed
as my own, the first money of which 1
had ever had the free disposal. True, a
few specimens of the currency had oc-
casionally passed through my hands, in
the shape of fugitive half.pence; but as
my mother had always requested me to
put these into the poor-box, could
scarcely be said to have had the full en-
ljoyment of them. Hence this money
was indeed my first, and O Plutus the
gold mines of Peru, made over TO me by
bond, duly signed and scaled, would
have delighted me less than this six
pence.
1t was my father who had given 1t
me, and under memorable circumstan-
COS. lie had been long while invol-
we'd in one of those suits in Chancery,
which arc the triumphs Of our legisla
ton. Seven-and-twenty years had it
lasted, but ut the end OF that time, by Il
happy dispensation of Providence, he
had been so fortunate as to gain his
cause. Lawyers, solicitors, and barris-
tcrs had, however, been to work so mer-
rily that, all costs and expenses paid.
there was left of the estate which form
ed the bone of contention the exact sum
of five pounds ten shillings and two
pence. Three letters and a consultation
from our family solicitor, informing us
of this edifying result, swallowed up
the five pounds of this total, and the
conscientious member of Lincoln's Inn
then scrupulously forwarded to us the
remaining ten shillings and two pence,
merely deducting therefrom six and
eight pence, price of the envelope in
which the residue was enclosed.
My father thereupon ranged seven
sixpences on our breakfast table. "My
boy" he said, 'see what comes of going
to law in Great Britain Your Mother
has told you that have won my suit
in chancery?"
"Yes, papa"
"Well, then, look That is all l gel
of it," and he pointed grimly at the
sixpences.
/ opened wide my eyes.
"All that you get of the whole suR y
! .eehboed, Wiih ha. %nYthalNier8 was com
posed, as other suits are, of coat waist
coat and trousers. "Why, papa, those
are only the buttons"
This deplorable joke had earned mt
my sixpence. My father had thrown II
over to me, laughing, and, like dog
who is pelted with bone, had rushed
hastily Off with it for fear he should
think of taking it back again.
Six......PENCE!
For time anything like cool retlec
ton was impossible. l was too giddy
too startled, to think. How think, in
. deed, when one has sixpence! My six
pence was as moon of which the ray
dazed mo my head swan, my finger
tingled, my eyes saw whirling throug
the air in fantastic gallop several mi
lions OF sixpenccs, all white, all latel
Il issued from the mint, all bearing upo
Il them, like my sixpenco, Victoria, D.G
}. Britanniarum, &C., with her Majesty
+ head at the royal arms.
d At last, however land happily, toe
e for was small boy, and unused t
n these cmotions), the intensity of m
sensations subsidized. l grew more phi
|. osophical, and after time was cnaDle'
+ to bring upon the subject that was al
le sorbing me becoming amount OF sci
4 possession. You know, of course, ,wha
ID il was, this subject that was abSorbin
er me? 1t was the expenditure OF III
rs siXpencc. Like n Chancellor of the E'
st chcqucr with tho surplus of year
" budget, was wondering what / shoul
70 do with it.
rs Momentous question! But IL neede
I'd "A refreshing breeze Of outdoor air
d. enable me to solve it with c)olnesS.
~ accordingly rose from my bedside, ,Whel
lie | knelt like IL Persian wOrshipping u
es sun, and having laid my elbows al
SO my sixpence upon the sill of the opt
! window, "multa corde Volutans," b
it. gan deeply to mediate,
ed Now, it may, perhaps, be accepted
%. symptom of my great precocity
We spirit that / had not been merg
of above ten minutes in reflection before
he had made up my mind upon one cal
in tai point, to wit, that there We're on
ar three things upon which my siXpen
it could worthily be eXpended,-a don
rd ey, II gold hunting watch, or Il pew
ice squirt. ,.,
ed The only question to decide was up
TO which of these three my choice shot
tx pitch; and here was the rub. l had
les artistic admiration for squirts,-p
nd squrts especially,-which l class
v amongst the sublimest contrivances
ip- to the ingenuity of man. Their use
ely mediums for the conveyance OF ink
re- soapy water upon the passers by In
, of street had always struck me as peculi
its ly practical, and think, on the wh'
ay, my sixpence would gave gone to
Bile purchase of one Of these astonishing
ill struments had not n reflection sudde
nor fallen upon me, and drenched my
| of thusiasm as under bucket OF cold v
ven er. could not remember ever haV
ing seen IA grown up man make use c
. L. L, f-A.. iIalit itnl No hAl