Oliver Optic

“ Those who are willing to help themselves are almost always sure to find some one who is willing to help them. If we try to do well, there are plenty of friends who will do all they can for us.
David’s mother used to let him go to the river to catch [16] fish, but she always told him, when he was going, to be very careful not to fall into the water. ”

“ I am very glad to get one;” and the man handed him two cents, and took a Journal.
“Thank you, sir,” said David, for his mother had told him he must be polite to all with whom he had dealings.
“You have gone into business—have you, David?” added the man, with a smile.
[63] “Yes, sir; I am trying to do something to help my mother.”
“That’s a good boy. You will find plenty of people to buy your papers, for they all want them.”
David sold five papers in the store, and with a light heart he ran over to the great shoe shop on the other side of the road. ”

“ Taking out his knife, he cut off one of the hind legs of the frog, and put it on the hook. There were a great many pickerel in the river. They are a very fine fish, and often grow to be quite large. A frog’s leg is the [23] best bait to catch them with, and David wished ever so much that he could catch a big pickerel. ”

“ David kept on selling papers for several years, and the money he earned in this way helped his mother very much, and no mother could be more happy in having such a good son. I hope all [86] my little friends will do all they can to help their mothers. If they cannot sell papers, they can do a great many things. They can at least be good boys and girls, and this will help their mothers a good deal, and make life very pleasant to them.
[87] THE NEWSBOY. ”

“ Many years ago there lived in Boston a carpenter whose name was John Lowe. He was very far from being a rich man, and, though he received fair wages for his labor, [88] he had a wife and four children to support.
One Saturday evening, as he was going down to the market, a little boy of about ten years of age stepped up to him, and asked if he would set him up in the newspaper business.
The newsboys, in the large cities of the United States, make from four to six cents a dozen on the papers they [89] sell; but they have to be active, and I am sure they earn their money. ”

“ White cooked the pickerel for their dinner that day, and David said they were very good, and he did not see why no one would buy them. After dinner David’s mother sent him to the store to get some sugar. While the grocer was putting it up, he heard a man in the store say they ought to have the Boston papers in Riverdale, and he did not see why [53] they could not be left at the people’s houses, as they were in other places. ”