Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-22
The New Ten Cent
Piece

1t was bright and shining, fresf
from the mint. and Nora Haynes hac
watched it being made with hundreds
just like it. Nora was on a visit tc
Philadelphia with her parents, ant
the mint was an interesting place.
When We go out" her father said
I'VE will ask them to give us a fe"
dimes and quarters in exchange fol
our old ones" So a bright shiny dime
was put away In an inside pocket OF
Nora's little red leather purse, for a
lucky piece" as she said, and I'm
never going to spend it."
But alas for Nora! That very next
month, on a rainy day, she took the
trolley for school. On opening the
red purse she found that she had for.
! gotten to ask father for her weekly
allowance: the conductor was stopping
in front of her, so she had to open
that inside pocket and give up her
precious lucky dime into the out.
stretched grimy paw. 1t vas quite a
shock to the new ten cent piece to
find itself transferred from a little
red leather purse. where it could
move around easily, to a dirty leath.
ern pocket, where it was crowded and
damned against five CEN pieces and
even copper cents: but the new ten
cent piece was plucky and wasn't 60.
ing to begin its career by being a
snob, and pretty oon it was being
J given in change to a pretty lady, who
smiled as she saw it and said, "Oh,
there's a new dime, right out of the
mint"
1t stayed in her pocket book some
time in grand company-halves and
quarters and crisp, new bills. But
one day, when the pretty lady was
boarding a prepayment car, in her
hurry to find five cents the little new
ten cent piece fell into the mud near
the car track, unnoticed by the pretty
lady.
1t lay there some time, until the
bright eyes of a little boy spied it.
"My!" said he, as he stopped down
and wiped the mud off 1t, what luck!
Just in time to buy that agate I want.
ed" He ran back to the news stand
where he had been gazing in the win
dow and longing for a special glass
marble, a perfect beauty. marked ten
cents. 1t was soon in his hands and
the ten cent piece was SC happy to
see the pleased look on his face that
1t did1't mind being thrown into the
till with a lot of dirty pennies. 1t
didn't stay there long, however, for
it was given in change to a man who
came along to buy a paper. The man
was a good man. but not very fond
of parting with his money, so the ten
cent piece thought it would stay a
long time with him, and it did. But
one night a kind man came to the
house to ask for a little help for a
family who had been burnt out. He
asked only a small sum from every
one. and almost every person on the
street had given at least a quarter.
The stingy mar hesitated and wasn't
going to give at all: then he slipped
/ his hand into his pocket.
The new ten cent piece tried its
best to force it's way into his fingers,
for it wanted to help that poor family;
but the stingy man took out q five
cent piece and said, That's all l can
find now. Good night"
The ten cent piece was so cross it
Just worked around in the stingy
mans pocket until it made a little
hole.
81 won't stay with a mean man a
moment longer" it said as It dropped
through next day and landed on the
sidewalk.
This time it was picked up, strange
ly enough, by a little girl, n of the
burnt out family. Her sister, Louise,
had been hurt in the fire and had lost
all her %playthings, which were rot
very many, anyhow, as they we're poor
people. Poor little Louise had to lie
in bed with a lame ankle, at a kind
neighbours. and she had cried all night
for her dolls tea set, burned up in the
fire.
When Mary. the big sister, found the
ten cent piece, her first thought was
ooh, Joy! I can get a new pink hair
ribbon at the ten cent store to replace
the one I lost" So she hurried on
to the ten cent store and the first
thing she saw was a darling little
tea set, almost as pretty as the one
Louise lost.
Mary thought how pleased Louise
would be if she could have this one,
because when people are burnt out
and have lost everything they can't
spend money on playthings. Poor
little Louise, crying with her broken
ankle-the only one who had Goen
hurt! After ALL" thought Mary to
herself, Il can wait for my new rib
bon" She looked down at her braid
tied with a shoestring. r"Td rather
Louise should have this lovely tea
set"
The ten cent piece fairly sang fol
Joy, and only wished it could have
been near to see Louise's look OF JOY
when the tea set was spread out or
her bed.
Mary lived to be an old lady, but she
never quite forgot that moment, wher
the joy Of giving instead of gettint
came to her for the first time and TIM
pleasure of a pink ribbon for herself