Page:The Poor Rich Man, and the Rich Poor Man.djvu/23

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
SCHOOL-DAYS.
15

save all be earns towards the journey; that will be something. I have three dollars left of the last I ever earned, and dear little Susy has given me five dollars, which aunt Mary sent to buy her a cloak."

"And how much will the journey cost, Charlotte?"

"Father says his last journey down to Barnstable cost him but ten dollars besides the provision and fodder he carried in the wagon. New-York is not as far as Barnstable; but horse-keeping there is terrible, and I dare not think what the doctor's bill may be."

"Oh," thought Harry, "if I were only rich! if I were only worth fifty dollars!" Money he had none, but he ran over in his mind all his convertible property. "There's Bounce (his dog); Squire Allen offered me three dollars for Bounce—I thought I would not sell him for a hundred, but he shall have him—and I have been offered two dollars for Sprite and Jumper (two black squirrels he had tamed with infinite pains); and what else have I?" He ran over his little possessions, his wearing apparel, article by article; he had no superfluity—sundry little keepsakes, but they were out of the class of money-value articles—his Bible, it was new and pretty, and would certainly bring a dollar. He looked at it lovingly, and was obliged again to look at Charlotte before he mentally added it to the list. He resolved on his benevolent traffic, and was just saying, "To-morrow, Charlotte, I think I shall have something to add to your store," when Morris, who had taken a seat at some distance, and seemed much absorbed, started up, exclaiming,

"Yes, in five years, at compound interest, I