Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-16
Pegs Prize

The father Of Randolph Brown first
called him Peg" because he always
kept "pegging away" at anything ne
started on. For a long time no one else
called him by that name, but one sum
mcr, when he was about ten years ola,
something happened that made the
name familiar to every ore IN the VII
age and fastened it to him tor life.
When school closed in June that year
the teacher said to the boys: Next
September, when school opens again. l
shall give a prize of five dollars to the
one of your number about whom ! hear
the best things during the long vaca-
ton. | have asked ten men in the VII.
lage to act as Judges: that is, they Will
keep their eyes open when any or you
are round, and I shall award the prize
mainly on the reports that they give
me- shall not tell you their names, but
you all know them and all OF them
know you. The contest is open to all
the boys in the school, and hope you
will all try to win, not simply for the
sake Of the prize, but for the honor OF
the school and the village"
At first almost every boy was deter
mined to win the prize. There was
much talk about it wherever the boys
met. Some Of them tried to figure out
who the ten judges We're but they
soon decided that it would not help
them much to know, and so settled
down to the contest in good natured ri
valrN.
Billy Fletcher who worked in groc-
cry store during the vacation, was so
polite to the customers that he rather
overdid it and one day some one laugh
ed at him and then he lost his temper
and also lost interest in the prize John
Varney made a point of helping old
persons or children on and Off trolley
cars on which he happened to be rid
ing but he got tired of it in week or
two. Nick Patterson did errands for an
old woman. Fred Harrington kept his
lawn so neatly trimmed that all who
passed by admired it. Brooks Converse
took home stray dog that was lame.
Before July was over the zeal Of those
boys began to flag. SO it was with
dozen others who set out to win in one
way or another the favor Of the ten
unknwn judges.
What was Peg Brown doing all the
time? He was collecting old newspap-
ers and scraps of wrapping paper that
he found in the streets. on vacant lots,
in yards, round the Common, and in
public places generally. Day after day
he did that wherever he happened to be
and whenever he picked up paper he
folded it and carried it home.
When any one smoke 10 him about it, he
just laughed and looked around for an
other old newspaper. Nor did he quit
after week or month. Day after day
all summer long he gathered waste pa
per and piled it away at home. At first
he picked up nothing but paper, but
soon he extended his program and be-
gan to gather bottles, scraps Of old iron.
and other things. which, his mother said
would fill the cellar to Overlooking be-
fore the vacation was over He did not
make Il regular business Of it, but did
his usual chores and had as much fun
as any boy in the village through the
long vacation. Still. day by day, his
strange collection grew.
On the first day Of school the teach
err awarded the prize.
Boys" he said, 81 find that, if the !
prize had been awarded in July. ten or
twelve Of you would have been tied for
it. But you know the last laps Of long J
race are the laps that count. The ten !
judges agree that the prize belongs to !;
Brown, the boy who kept
pegging away
There was much clappng of hands,
for they all liked Peg. Then the teacher !
went on:
THE judges also agree that the win
iltI vi lle prize WOFkeO SO ldllulullS
through the summer in making the |
streets and the Common heater and
more attractive that he has earned
more than the five dollar prize. There
fort each Of them has added a dollar to
the prize, and I have the pleasure of
giving him prize of fifteen dollars in
stead Of one of five dollars"
There was much more applause as
Peg stepped forward and took the if
teen crisp dollar bills that the
teacher held toward him.
That is how Peg won prize three
times as large as the one he had tried |
for and how he won name in the viii
lage that was worth far more than the
money.
Nor was the fifteen dollars all the
money reward that he gained, for he
sold the waste paper, bottles, and scrap |
iron to a junk dealer for d sum of |
money that was even larger than the |
prize itself. But he had counted on that
j. 3. Appleton in Youths Companion |