Evening star., 1895-09-14
STORIES FOR BOYS
A HEAD FOB BUSINESS.
BY JOHN HABBERToN.
(CODyrirht. 1851

Copyright, 1887
If there is a business star anywhere in
the armament, Frank Quickling must have
been horn under 1t, for from the time he
got out of short skirts and into short trous-
ers he manifested keen interest in what
ever might improve the quantity and quail
ity 'of his possessions. This of itself was
not strange, for the boy who doesn't long
for more of whatever he chances to like
and who doesn't want it better is hard to
find outside of the lower levels Of a ceme-
terry. But Franks wits were as active as
his longings. so when he failed to get what
he wanted the reason was generally to be
found in some blunder for which the mex
perience of youth was to blame.
To think, in Franks case, was to act
One day he saw a couple of little Italians
playing violins in front of houses and
collecting pennies from the heuseholders
within an hour he himself was scraping
his fathers violin in front of other houses
and doing it so badly that he received, in
ALL pocket full of pennies to stop playing
True, when his parents learned what mad
occurred they made him contribute the
whole amount to the Sunday school mis-
sionary fund. and his mother made calls
daily for eek to explain to her acquaint-
ances that she and her husband felt al
most too mortified to live; still, Frank did
not .forcsee all this. and thought 1t a sad
waste of time. Then he started for him
self in the bootblacking line at a street
corner and did quite a business until led
home by the ear by an unbusinesslike
uncle.
Warned that he must restrain his busi-
ness instincts and exercise them only for
FUN, he went into trading for marbles, and
dld 1t so well that the other boys of his
age soon had to stop playing marbles, for
| they had none left to play with Then lie
tried trapping birds. He had heard that a
bird could be caught by putting salt upon
ms tail, so Franks traps were SO arranged
that no bird could enter without getting a
tiny shower of salt upon his tail feathers;
ne would have got lots of birds, too, If he
had not trusted to the salt alone while ar
ranging his traps.
One day he saw two boys irving to catch
a squirrel that had run into hollow tree;
one boy held a bag over the hole at the
top, while the other stood at the bottom to
keep the animal from escaping in that d.
rection. The boys had stood still until they
We're tired, but when Frank picked up a
big stone and hammered vigorously on the
tree trunk Master Squirrel popped ont of
the hole at the top and into the bag and
frank claimed and was allowed a third in
terest In the squirrel, with the privilege
OF Keeping him at his house through one
week of every three.
That third interest in the squirrel was
an unending source of comfort to Frank.
for all the other small boys who came to
fishts IN the ownership, and offered SO
many d1fferent things in exchange for 1t
that FRANKS small head was jammed to
It's uttermost curve with business oppor-
tunities. But none of the offers were en-
tirely satisfactory: Frank wanted some
thing that had future 70 it. and one day
he determined what it should be- He want
ed TO go into the chicken-raising business.
Tor his parents paid very high prices for
eggs that were absolutely fresh, and as
FRANK, at the age of eight years, knew
enough Of arithmetic to figure out the
futures of things, he saw, as plainly as
figures could show 1t, that there was mint
OF money in the chicken business He did
not confine himself to eggs, for according
10 ms cipherins dozen eggs brought only
as mucn money as single chicken, where
as single chicken could be evolved from
one egg II setting hen could be persuaded
to coddle it for three weeks
The longer be figured the more plainly he
saw that the only thing that stood between
him and the beginning of fortune was
a setting hen. His own parents did not
keep chickens; his father had no time to
attend TO sucn thirgs and his mother lack
ed the taste. Still. they had a barn of
which no use was made: the kitchen scraps
would provide as much food as other peo-
pies chickens got; all he needed was the
hen, so one day he traded his third interest
in the squirrel for the loan Of a setting
men for three months. He was all right as
to eggs for he borrowed two or three from
each dozen his mother purchased
Never before did any setting hen have as
n,uch company, or as many hopes heaped
uron her insensate back. as the hen near
WEom Frank sat during most Of his wake
full hours for the following three weeks,
When chap Is day-dreaming it matters
Little where he does it, so, although the
family barn was old. and stuffy, and
a century of smells. Frank sat in it day
by day. and he dreamed until the dingy
walls were decorated with pennies and
nickels. and dimes. and quarters. and
until ro-n
make narrow dado around the entire
wall. 1t is pleasing to record that all the
eggs dozen in number, hatched and
that each chick was pretty enough to eat
alive from the scrap of shell that ad
hered to it for a while In the meantime
Frank had traded all OF his marbles for
the loan Of another hen. whose brood came
into peep two weeks later.
Frank 8 parents were as proud as he and
Franks father wrote to his favcrite news
Fl per an account of the whole affair and
he changed his paper three days later be-
carse the account was not published. The
chickens grew like weeds, and the family
made haste to contract for all the broilars
that might mature during the. summer.
Frank made chicken yard behind the
barn. being allowed to Use all the spare
window screens, bed stats and MOSQUITO
nettiI ss in the house, as well as the door
and sides of the winter storm door; a boy
with so good business head as Frank mad
was not TO hack apprecia tion 6nd en-
couragenent.
The chickens grew and grew, and one
day when some company came unexpected
iy several members of the first brood We're
used as broilers, and two entire dollars
went into Franks savings bank, from
which they had to be extracted and looked
at at least dozen times a day. Franks
mother had said that she wanted only the
tenderest dickens to brcil, SO the boy had
carefully selected the smallest. because
they SCENE the most delicate. They were
extremely successful they lay in their
suits of frying-pan brown on hot dish
with slices of toast for oouches, and Frank
was honest enough to think. as he ate half
of one of them, that he ought 10 cut down
his bill somewhat. More broilers were
wanted within a week. and again the small
est and most delicate of the flock were Sc
lected; meeEwhile the cash in hand had
been reinvested in eggs and setting hens
so the chicken yard became quite full and
the mothers became SO numerous that the
chicks were not always certain as to the
wings beneath which they had the right to
seek shelter
At least Frank could not imagine any
reason for the quarrels In which the chick
ems frequently indulged; 1t was strange