The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-08-13
A CANADIAN nime.

Have you ever found Canadian dime
IN your poeketi They are as hard u
account for as the descent Of man
When Binks found one among a pocket
ful Of change he swore the doctrine
81 special creation that some mystic
mint must have coined it right there
hut when he Jared his front teeth put
ting IL to the orthodox test for All
coins suspected OF supernatural origin
he abandoned his faith and cursed the
missing link.
His first thought had been to cherish
the mysterious lyittle stranger, but the
Dafwinian hypothesis knocked all The
romance out Of II. lie began TO reason
himself down step step to the depths
OF meanness and ultimate superstition
DO Others as they do YOU" that
sounded like the maxim his mother
taught him long ago. He would be an
other missing link in the descent Of the
dime, Besides, he would probably pass
It along by mistake before evening.
But he didn't know the character Of
the Canadian dime abroad. TIN creep
into your pocket with all the modesty
i has in rs Canadian home. Once there
however, ii becomes as obtrusive rs a
bu2z-car among buggies. The good Am
erican dimes seem 10 fly from IT, Every
time Binks pulled a dime out Of his
pocket, try as he would to treat it iu.
differently, his eye was caught BY the
royal smile Of King Edward. II seemed
70 catch other peoples eyes too. Every.
body seemed to look at him as If he was
q professional counterfeiter So he
carried Il home that night
The boy with the laundry followed
him into his room. Here was an oppor.
tunity. He had often noticed foreign
COINS, slick nickels, clipped quarters and
other doubtful pieces among the handful
Of change that boy pulled out to break
his bills with. 50 he put the exact
amount Of his debt together, including
the Canadian dime he didn't have 70
look for it-snd handed it TO the boy
The boy looked It over carefully.
"tiive We a nickel for thiss he said,
handing up the dime with smile.
This made Binks mad Was such
dishonesty possibIeg 10 deliberately
buy bad money cheap, with the obvious
intention OF passing It At its face valuei
He couldn't encourage that. SO he took
the dime back
But he was a changed man No
thoughts Of unconscious gain were in
his mind The wicked designs Of that
youth had undermined his proud virtue.
He deliberately put the dime aside in a
separate pocket, resolved 10 use it FOR
a tip to the waiter at lunch. Il was
mean, and be knew il, but the case was
desperate.
THANK You, sir said the waiter, as
he slipped it in his pocket
Binks never knew whether the man
looked at itthat was what worried
him in the sequel But he was 50
pleased with himself TINT be loitered At
the paw counter and bought himself 4
good cigar While he was lighting 1t
the cashier approached him with an
apologetie air.
aFm afraid I short changed you,
she said. and gave him 10 cents. You
Sec, the bin was and she went
through a disconcerting calculation.
"When ] got home that night Binks
tells, Il nearly had a it, There it was
IA Canadian dime / remember that
waiter smiled ominouslv as / left the
but I don't think that nc
counts for IL Canadian dimes are cpl
demic. carry one about with me now
vaccination, you know. kansas
City Times.