BY
OLIVER OPTIC,
AUTHOR OF “THE BOAT CLUB,” “ALL ABOARD,” “NOW OR NEVER,” “TRY
AGAIN,” “POOR AND PROUD,” “LITTLE BY LITTLE,” &c.
BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD,
(SUCCESSORS TO PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.)
1870.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by
WILLIAM T. ADAMS
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
ELECTROTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
THE LITTLE MERCHANT.
I.
Perhaps some of my young readers have been at Riverdale; if they have not, I must tell them that it is a very pretty place. The village is on the banks of a river, that comes from many miles away among the hills and mountains; and that is the reason why it is called Riverdale. But I will not stop now to tell my little friends about the place, for they will find out all they wish to know about it before they have done reading the story.
There were rich people and poor people in Riverdale, as there are in almost every other place, and my story begins in the humble cottage of a poor widow. It was not a pretty white cottage, with green blinds, and a nice flower garden in front of it, but it was a dingy old house that had never been painted. Nothing had been done to make it look pretty, and it seemed hardly fit to live in.
The poor widow’s name was Jane White. Her husband, who had been a laborer, died only a year before, and left her with a family of four children. She had to work very hard to get money enough to buy food and clothes for her little boys and girls, and you may be sure they did not have any nice things to eat, nor any fine clothes to wear.
Her oldest boy’s name was David White. He was not quite nine years old. But he was big enough to help his mother a great deal, as any little boy of that age may do, if he only tries.