AUNT HATTIE'S LIBRARY
for Girls.
SERIES I.
VOL. I. THE SHEEP AND LAMBS.
" II. LILY'S BIRTHDAY.
" III. LITTLE MISS FRET.
" IV. MAGGIE AND THE MICE.
" V. THE LOST KITTY.
" VI. IDA'S NEW SHOES.
AUNT HATTIE'S LIBRARY
for Boys.
SERIES II.
VOL. I. THE APPLE BOYS.
" II. THE CHEST OF TOOLS.
" III. THE FACTORY BOY.
" IV. FRANKIE'S DOG TONY.
" V. THE GOLDEN RULE.
" VI. LYING JIM.
[Illustration: AUNT HATTIE'S LIBRARY]
The Factory Boy.
BY AUNT HATTIE,
AUTHOR OF THE "BROOKSIDE SERIES," ETC.
"Trust in the Lord and do good, ... and verily thou shalt be fed."
DAVID.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY HENRY A. YOUNG & CO.,
NO. 24 CORNHILL.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
REV. A. R. BAKER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Massachusetts.
ROCKWELL & ROLLINS, STEREOTYPERS,
122 Washington Street.
To
NELLIE, ROLAND COTTON, ANNIE, AND FULLER APPLETON,
CHILDREN OF MY BELOVED NEPHEW,
THE REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D.D.,
THESE SMALL VOLUMES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,
WITH THE EARNEST PRAYER
THAT THEIR LIVES MAY PROVE THEM TO BE LAMBS IN THE FOLD
OF THE GREAT AND GOOD
Shepherd of Israel.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page
THE SILVER DOLLAR, 11
CHAPTER II.
KIND FRIENDS, 21
CHAPTER III.
THE NEW BOOTS, 32
CHAPTER IV.
A SAD STORY, 41
CHAPTER V.
GOING TO SCHOOL, 53
CHAPTER VI.
JOHNNY A FAVORITE, 64
CHAPTER VII.
JOHNNY'S TRUST, 74
CHAPTER VII.
JOHNNY'S NEW FATHER, 87
CHAPTER IX.
THE NEW HOUSE, 99
THE FACTORY BOY.
CHAPTER I.
THE SILVER DOLLAR.
"TAKE a cup of porridge, Johnny, dear. It's too cold to go to work
without something warm."
Johnny looked in the bowl which stood on the hearth, near a few
smouldering brands, and shook his head as he answered,--"I'm not very
hungry, mother. There's only enough for you and Ella." Then without
another word he hurried away, for the factory bell was ringing; and he
knew that he must not be late.
Poor little Johnny! How he shivered as he shuffled along that frosty
December morning! He could not pick up his feet, as the boys say, and
run; for his shoes were much too large for him, and the heels were so
worn that it was only by shuffling that he could keep them on his feet.
He had scarce a quarter of a mile to go; but cold and hungry as the
child was, it seemed a long way to him. He could not help wishing he
were a baby like Ella, and could lie in bed all day, with his dead
father's coat thrown over him to keep him warm.
It was early yet; and few people were stirring except the men, women,
and children who were hurrying to enter the factory before the bell
ceased to toll. Johnny hurried, too, for he remembered the scolding he
had received the day before for being five minutes too late, and was
just crossing the railroad track when his toe hit against something,
which he stooped to pick up.
It was a silver dollar; but he did not know it. He had never seen one.
He thought it was a temperance medal, like what he had seen strung
around the boys' necks.
His eyes shone with pleasure; he had often wished for a medal, and he
determined that when he reached the factory he would thread a piece of
yarn through the hole and wear it outside his jacket.
The place where Johnny worked was a stocking factory. His part was to
wind the skeins of yarn upon the long spools, from which the men and
large boys wove it into stockings.
He had forgotten about his hunger now, and was tying a knot in the
string he had put through the dollar, when a young woman came toward
him.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
He held up the medal, saying, eagerly, "I found it."
"It's a dollar, a silver dollar, Johnny."
"Oh, goody!" cried the boy; "now I can have some new shoes. I thought it
was a Father Matthew's medal; but I'd rather have a dollar. Oh, I'm so
glad!"
The woman looked in his pale face, and couldn't help saying, as she did
so,--
"Are you hungry, child?"
"Not very."
"What did you have for breakfast?"
His lips quivered, but he knew by her kind face that she was a friend;
and he told her the whole story of his mother's long sickness; and how
they had grown poorer and poorer, until there was nothing now but what
he earned.
"I knew Ella would be hungrier than I," he said, looking the woman full
in the face with his clear blue eyes; "and so I didn't take the
porridge."
"Wait a minute; you sha'n't go to work so," was all she said; and then
she was off through the door, down the long steps in a hurry.
He pulled his stool close to the small wheel, on which was a large skein
of fine yarn, and began to turn it with his foot, when the woman came
back, bringing a small basket.
"Here, Johnny, eat this and this," giving him a buttered biscuit and a
piece of cold meat; "and carry the rest home. There is enough for you,
your mother, and Ella, to have a good dinner."
Poor Johnny was dumb with astonishment. He could scarcely realize that
all this was for him; but as the woman waited to see him eat, he pulled
the hard silver dollar from his pocket and held it out to her.
"No! no!" she exclaimed; "give it to your mother. She'll know what to
do with it, I dare say."
That was a happy day for Johnny; almost the happiest he had ever known.
He had begun it by giving up his own comfort for that of his mother and
sister, and by-and-by God sent him friends to care for him.