Paul the Peddler | Page 6

in the present instance, it is not
because Paul and his mother are any better off than their neighbors. On
the contrary, there are few whose income is so small. But they have
seen better days, and the furniture we see has been saved from the time
of their comparative prosperity.
As Paul is still at his estimate, let us improve the opportunity by giving
a little of their early history.
Mr. Hoffman, the father of Paul, was born in Germany, but came to
New York when a boy of twelve, and there he grew up and married, his
wife being an American. He was a cabinetmaker, and, being a skillful
workman, earned very good wages, so that he was able to maintain his

family in comfort. They occupied a neat little cottage in Harlem, and
lived very happily, for Mr. Hoffman was temperate and kind, when an
unfortunate accident clouded their happiness, and brought an end to
their prosperity. In crossing Broadway at its most crowded part, the
husband and father was run over by a loaded dray, and so seriously
injured that he lived but a few hours. Then the precarious nature of
their prosperity was found out. Mr. Hoffman had not saved anything,
having always lived up to the extent of his income. It was obviously
impossible for them to continue to live in their old home, paying a rent
of twenty dollars per month. Besides, Paul did not see any good
opportunity to earn his living in Harlem. So, at his instigation, his
mother moved downtown, and took rooms in a tenement-house in Pearl
street, agreeing to pay six dollars a month for apartments which would
now command double the price. They brought with them furniture
enough to furnish the three rooms, selling the rest for what it would
bring, and thus obtaining a small reserve fund, which by this time was
nearly exhausted.
Once fairly established in their new home, Paul went out into the
streets to earn his living. The two most obvious, and, on the whole,
most profitable trades, were blacking boots and selling newspapers. To
the first Paul, who was a neat boy, objected on the score that it would
keep his hands and clothing dirty, and, street boy though he had
become, he had a pride in his personal appearance. To selling papers he
had not the same objection, but he had a natural taste for trade, and this
led him to join the ranks of the street peddlers. He began with vending
matches, but found so much competition in the business, and received
so rough a reception oftentimes from those who had repeated calls from
others in the same business, that he gave it up, and tried something else.
But the same competition which crowds the professions and the higher
employments followed by men, prevails among the street trades which
are pursued by boys. If Paul had only had himself to support, he could
have made a fair living at match selling, or any other of the
employments he took up; but his mother could not earn much at
making vests, and Jimmy was lame, and could do nothing to fill the
common purse, so that Paul felt that his earnings must be the main
support of the family, and naturally sought out what would bring him in

most money.
At length he had hit upon selling prize packages, and his first
experience in that line are recorded in the previous chapter. Adding
only that it was now a year since his father's death, we resume our
narrative.
"Do you want to know how much I've made, mother?" asked Paul,
looking up at length from his calculation.
"Yes, Paul."
"A dollar and thirty cents."
"I did not think it would amount to so much. The prizes came to
considerable, didn't they?"
"Listen, and I will tell you how I stand:
One pound of candy . . . . . . . . .20 Two packs of envelopes . . . . . . . .10
Prize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
---- That makes . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.20
I sold the fifty packages at five cents each, and that brought me in two
dollars and a half. Taking out the expenses, it leaves me a dollar and
thirty cents. Isn't that doing well for one morning's work?"
"It's excellent; but I thought your prizes amounted to more than ninety
cents."
"So they did, but several persons who bought wouldn't take their prizes,
and that was so much gain."
"You have done very well, Paul. I wish you might earn as much every
day."
"I'm going to earn some more this afternoon. I