“Surely it wasn’t you who cried out just now?” said Eddy, apostrophising it.
“Yes, it was, and you have hurt me very much, biting me in such a savage way,” replied the crooked sixpence reprovingly. “Here have I been rudely tossed and hustled from pouch to pocket, and hand to hand, to try and serve you, and you show your gratitude by saying I’m bad. For shame, Eddy Wilkinson.”
“Indeed, I’m very sorry, ma’am,” rejoined Eddy, astonished and trembling all over at the strange incident.
“I’m not of the feminine gender, Eddy. Don’t call me ‘ma’am,’ please.”
“Very well, sir,” apologised the boy.
“That’s worse; I’m not a gentleman.”
“What are you, then?” asked the lad, in an impatient tone.
“Neither one nor the other, yet I’m a little of both. If you turn me on this side, I’m a man; roll me over, and I’m a woman. Still I’m incongruous, and only a sixpence,” replied the coin.
“You’re very thin, and worn, and of no earthly use to anybody, I think,” said Eddy boldly, [[144]]“except the banks, who are taking worn-out customers like you.”
“I shall prove very useful to you, Eddy, so don’t insult me. On me, thin as I am, you will build a stupendous fortune.”