When the fifth baby was born, he was named after the Apostle Peter, because his father said, "This boy will come to something."
But he was not a strong boy.
He was able to go to school but one year of his life, and then only every other day.
His father was a hatter, and when Peter was eight years old he pulled hair from rabbit skins for hat pulp.
Year after year he worked harder than he was able, but he was determined to win.
When his eight little brothers and sisters needed shoes, he ripped up an old one to see how it was made. Always after that he made the shoes for the family.
Do you think a lazy boy would have done that?
When he was seventeen, he bade his anxious mother good-bye, and started for New York to make his fortune.
Do you know what a lottery is?
It is a way dishonest people have of making money.