The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-07-04
The Ducat and the Farthing.

The Ducat and the Farthing.
A ducat and farthing had just been |
coined in the great mint where all the |
gold, silver and copper pieces are made. |
The two lay close side by side, clean and
beautiful, and the clear sunshine gilt |
tered upon them.
"Thou ragamuffinH cried the ducat,
soft with thee! Thou art only made
out of vulgar copper, and art not worthy
to be shone upon by the sun! Thou
wilt soon be black and dirty, and no one
will think it worth while to pick thee up
from the ground. l, on the contrary,
am of costly gold shall travel through
the world to the great people of the
earth-to princes and kings shall do
great things, and even at length, per-
haps, become part of the kings crown"
At the same moment great white
cat, lying near the fire, rose up, and,
turning round on her side, remarked:
"The under must be uppermost, to
make all even."
And the fate of these two coins was
somewhat the same.
The gold piece came into the posses
sion of a rich miser, who locked it up i'll
chest among great number OF other
gold pieces. The miser, fearing that he
should soon die, buried all his gold in
the earth, so that no one should possess
it after him; and there lies the proud
ducat till the present time, and it is
grown so black and dirty that no one
would pick it up if he saw it.
The farthing, however, travelled far
through the earth, and came to high
honor and this is how it occurred:
A lad from the mint received the far
thing in his wages, and the lads little
sister admiring the bright little coin, he
gave it to her. The child ran into the
garden to show her mother the farthing;
an old lame beggar came limping up
and begged piece of bread. 81 have
none," said the little girl. "Give me,
then, a farthing, that may buy myself
bit of Bread" said the beggar. And
the child gave him the farthing. The
beggar limped away to the bakers.
Whilst he stood in the shop, an old ac-
quaintance, dressed as pilgrim, with
his cloak, staff and bag, came up the
street, and gave the children pretty pic
lures of saints and holy men, and the
children dropped pence into the box
which the pilgrim held in his hand The
beggar asked, "Where are you going?"
The pilgrim replied, Many hundred
miles, to the city of Jerusalem, where
the dear Lord Jesus was born, and
lived, and died l am going to pray at
His holy grave, and to buy the release
of nv brother, who has been taken pris-
oner by the Turks. But first am col
Letting money in my box. So take
my mite!" said the beggar, and gave the
pilgrim the farthing. The beggar was
walking away hungry as he came, but
the baker, who had looked on, gave the
Door old man the bread he was about to
have bought. Now the pilgrim tray
eled through many lands, sailed over
the sea in a little ship, and at length
reached the city of Jerusalem. When
the pilgrim arrived, he first prayed at
the sepulcher, then presented himself
before the Sultan, who held his brother
captive. He offered the Turk great
sum of money if he would only set his
brother free. But the Turk required
more. 81 have nothing more to offer
thee" spake the pilgrim, ethan this
gave me out OF compassion. Be thou
also compassionate, and the farthing
will reward thee" The Sultan put the
all about it. The Emperor of Germany
came to Jerusalem and waged war
against the Sultan. The Sultan fought
bravely and was never wounded. Once
an arrow was shot straight at his breast,
struck him, but fell back again without
having wounded him. The Sultan was
much surprised at this, and after the
battle his clothes were examined, and in
the breast pocket the farthing was
found, against which the arrow had
struck. The Turk held the farthing in
great honor, and had it hung with q
Golden chain to the handle of his cine
ter. Later on in the war the Sultan was
taken prisoner by the Emperor, and was
forced to yield up his sword to him.
And thus the farthing came with the
sword into the Emperor's possession.
Whilst the Emperor sat at table
with a beaker of wine in his hand, the
Empress said she would like to see the
Sultan's sword, and it was brought. Al
the Emperor exhibited it to the Empires:
the farthing fell from the golden chair
into the beaker of wine. The Emperor
perceived this, and before he placed thu
beaker TO his lips he took out the far
thing. But the farthing was gone quit,
green. Then every one saw aat there
was poison in the wine. A wicked at
tendant had poisoned the wine in orde
to destroy the Emperor. The attend
ant was condemned to death, but tn
farthing was placed in the imperia
crown.
Thus the farthing had delighted
child, had procured beggar bread, ha,
released q prisoner, had saved the lif
Of a Sultan, and of an Emperor. There
fore it was set in the imperial crown
and is there to this day-if one coul
only see that crown
The Honey-Bee.