the hole with cement, rubbed me a little to brighten me up, and went out in
the twilight hour to the lottery collector, to buy herself a ticket, with a
shilling that should bring luck. How everything seemed to cause me trouble.
The lottery collector pressed me so hard that I thought I should crack. I had
been called false, I had been thrown away,-that I knew; and there were
many shillings and coins with inscriptions and stamps of all kinds lying
about. I well knew how proud they were, so I avoided them from very
shame. With the collector were several men who seemed to have a great
deal to do, so I fell unnoticed into a chest, among several other coins.
“Whether the lottery ticket gained a prize, I know not; but this I know,
that in a very few days after, I was recognized as a bad shilling, and laid
aside. Everything that happened seemed always to add to my sorrow. Even
if a man has a good character, it is of no use for him to deny what is said of
him, for he is not considered an impartial judge of himself.
“A year passed, and in this way I had been changed from hand to hand;
always abused, always looked at with displeasure, and trusted by no one;
but I trusted in myself, and had no confidence in the world. Yes, that was a
very dark time.
“At length one day I was passed to a traveller, a foreigner, the very same
who had brought me away from home; and he was simple and true-hearted
enough to take me for current coin. But would he also attempt to pass me?
and should I again hear the outcry, ‘False! good-for-nothing!’ The traveller
examined me attentively, ‘I took thee for good coin,’ said he; then suddenly
a smile spread all over his face. I have never seen such a smile on any other
face as on his. ‘Now this is singular,’ said he, ‘it is a coin from my own
country; a good, true, shilling from home. Some one has bored a hole
through it, and people have no doubt called it false. How curious that it
should come into my hands. I will take it home with me to my own house.’
“Joy thrilled through me when I heard this. I had been once more called a
good, honest shilling, and I was to go back to my own home, where each
and all would recognize me, and know that I was made of good silver, and
bore a true, genuine stamp. I should have been glad in my joy to throw out
