The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-04-01
rnr ADVENTURES or sAD QUARTER.
0iiMpses ~r the DccepttScuess Of Huaas
Nnturn Equal fus1ts Own.


Nntu-o Equal rusits Own.
] had no Knowledge. when I lrst arrived ,
at Il consciousness OF my own existence. that |
wns materially different from other coins of n \
similar denomination. ] was bright. TO be
sure. indeed. II was only INV gulelrss nature |
that hindoiSd mo from knowing that i was
suspiciousiy bright But. lying OH u mantle
pieces or In tho rocesscs Of purse. often came
iato contact with other shining quarters. and
had % vngue perception that their brightness
WAS not my brightness. l fraternzod with
thom and ignored tho dimos and thought 1t n
strange aud sad phase Of specio nature that
the quarters soon sank into silence. paying
no attention to my remarks. and treating
me. in fact. as though there was nothing
In common bctweon ms. This always happened
after. In an excess Of friendliness. had jingied
against ono Of them and laughed In way that
seemed to jar upon tho feelings Of my associ-
ates and then when nttemptod to fall back
on the dimes for cOmpanionship those upstart
CONS. taking the cue from their betters. l sup
pose. refused to acknowledge that was worth
two and u half OF the best OF them. Once when
civilly addressed dino with n hole in it. tho
mutlated piece drew itself proudly away and
said: Pardon me, sir am worth my weight
ut tho Treasury at ienst but you aro not worth
the trouble Of weighing" SO that ut last
began to wish had never been born.
And. indeed. l suffered unjusty for had no
part in being Gust upon heartess world.
have no knowledge Of my birthplace. My first
dawning intelligence was in clergymans
pocket At least. l think lie was n clergyman.
MONDAY prayer meeting he called u lady Sis
ter" He was an honest man. for. being in
Ave cents or not. he hesitated to part with me.
and looked At me often. Sometimes he mutt
ne 2asi me so Sn tss sSs naa
bad. sure" and once. when he Thought ! was
good. he gave me away to II teggar man. That
room. He took four six cent whiskoys In rapid
succession, offered me n paynen n and ID, asked
his hat thrown after him. but was left behind.
Tho next day I was offered TO . 'longshoro-
cation ~a mat e snsaed he Knocked the bartender
| down. Instantly the bRrroom was In All up:
sa va" s.sss "Ha Tnea The hsn Of
policeman. who was STOPPING over dead man
lying ON the floor.
| tho Coroner he had not seen me. although. IN
he spoke. was lying In his pocket He after
mist. having discovered within an hour that
was not what my face represented me to De.
but for what may term a lucky accident fora
bud quarter with hole IN It l. IN HnfesiT9hillS
tho tobacconist was looking Tor a hammer. a
wcl-dressed. gentiemanly man strolled into
store sn seeing me n on the HTnnt tier he
found nothing there. however. except the
lining. The tobaeconist and my new owner
searched for me on the floor. and could hear
| beneath me IL heart beating loud with indigna-
ton as its owner realized that lie had stolen
| bad quarter.
markabie advent ures for year or more. Now
was in the laborhRrdened palm OF II son OF
Ssr ss Is III 81 sSTsS ms msn1
phases OF human natures: some OF my owners
received and gave me without thought OF my
fectiy We'll that was worthless threw me on
counter with earsess air. and Sm , snrs
the tradesman took me up. My phys:
ica falings could not be ~ alltered , but
s sliy Better nas coin. o have heard tho
services OF every church exiunt. and have
piats Wh.S Se It Was PASSED around on sundays
The wealthy could always do this without fear
and without reGronch but once when , .d poor
part OF hardly earned days wages attempted
thus to dispose q me she wss turned on, h; OK
the collector. who coniiscated me. slipped mo
into tho plate MS he walked un tho aisle; Ihaye
sisted to pnrchass blankets for tho hsathen in
foreign lands and beef and clothes for tho
remember being given by a handsome. fash:
iona6iy dressed lady to poor lao VINO had
chase nourisSmont for his dying mother lie
knew was bad ten minutes after no had takcn
| me, ana Ne returned ana toiu tns iauy 49, OUT
she denied ever having seen me before. and
told the servant to pu; the boy out; He was IN
honest boy, and he went to a trHdesmun with
whom his mother had dealt in better days and
told bin the whole story The trndesman was
but he took me- and paid part OF bill with me.
A Fifth avenue millionaire kept, me for II
week. His conscience would not nllow him to
give me to T. stranger. SO at last he handed me
to his wife renarking that women thought
less of these little things than men" and all
my, experience has shown me that he was
right.
I do not think I can escape destruction much
longer. MY sivery CLEAN Is wearing on and
am growing yellow. or late l have been too
shabby to escape detection even rs O charity
Offering. have dictated my simple story to a
literary gentleman, my present owner. on