Georgie | Page 7

one of
his pens; and they would all sit at the table, and make pictures, and
write little letters, and seal them with small bits of the wafers. In fact,
Wise kept his inkstand box safe till he grew up to be a man.
That is the end of the story.

THE TOY-SHOP.
"I wish I could get an inkstand box," said Rollo, when the story was
finished.
"I think he was very foolish to throw away his grinning monkey," said
James "I wish I could see a grinning monkey."
They continued talking about this story some time, and at length they
drew nigh to the city. They drove to a stable, where Jonas had the horse
put up, and then they all walked on in search of a toy-shop.
They passed along through one or two streets, walking very slowly, so
that the boys might look at the pictures and curious things in the shop
windows. At length they came to a toy-shop, and all went in.
They saw at once a great number and variety of playthings exhibited to
view. All around the floor were arranged horses on wheels, little carts,
wagons, and baskets. The counter had a great variety of images and
figures,--birds that would peep, and dogs that would bark, and
drummers that would drum--all by just turning a little handle. Then the
shelves and the window were filled with all sorts of boxes, and whips,
and puzzles, and tea-sets, and dolls, dressed and not dressed. There
were bows and arrows, and darts, and jumping ropes, and glass dogs,
and little rocking-horses, and a thousand other things.
When the boys first came in, there was a little girl standing by the
counter with a small slate in her hand. She looked like a poor girl,
though she was neat and tidy in her dress. She was talking with the
shopman about the slate.
"Don't you think," said she, "you could let me have it for ten cents?"
"No," said he, "I could not afford it for less than fifteen. It cost me
more than ten."
The little girl laid the slate down, and looked disappointed and sad.
Rollo's mother came up to her, took up the slate, and said,

"I should think you had better give him fifteen cents. It is a very good
slate. It is worth as much as that, certainly."
"Yes, madam, so I tell her," said the shopman.
"But I have not got but ten cents," said the little girl.
"Have not you?" said Rollo's mother. She stood still thinking a moment,
and then she asked the little girl what her name was.
She said it was Maria.
She asked her what she wanted the slate for; and Maria said it was to do
sums on, at school. She wanted to study arithmetic, and could not do so
without a slate.
Jonas then came forward, and said that he should like to give her five
cents of Georgie's money, and that, with the ten she had, would be
enough. He said that Georgie had given him authority to do what he
thought best with his money, and he knew, if Georgie was here, he
would wish to help the little girl.
Rollo and James were both sorry they had not thought of it themselves;
and, as soon as Jonas mentioned it, they wanted to give some of their
money to the girl; but Jonas said he knew that Georgie would prefer to
do it. At last, however, it was agreed that Rollo and James should
furnish one cent each, and Georgie the rest. This was all agreed upon
after a low conversation by themselves in a corner of the store; and then
Jonas came forward, and told the shopman that they were going to pay
the additional five cents, and that he might let the girl have the slate. So
Jonas paid the money, and it was agreed that Rollo and James should
pay him back their share, when they got their money changed. The
boys were very much pleased to see the little girl go away so happy
with her slate in her hand. It was neatly done up in paper, with two
pencils which the shopman gave her, done up inside.
After Maria was gone, the boys looked around the shop, but could not
find any thing which exactly pleased them; or at least they could not

find any thing which pleased them so much more than any thing else,
that they could decide in favor of it. So they concluded to walk along,
and look at another shop.
They succeeded at last in finding some playthings that they liked, and
Jonas bought a variety of useful things for Georgie. On their way home,
the carryall stopped at the house where Lucy lived,