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    [Illustration: THE PEDDLER AND HIS GRANDCHILDREN.]




UNCLE FRANK'S
BOY'S & GIRL'S LIBRARY,

BY

FRANCIS C. WOODWORTH,
EDITOR OF WOODWORTH'S YOUTH'S CABINET.

    [Illustration]




THE
PEDDLER'S BOY;

OR,

"I'LL BE SOMEBODY."


With Tinted Illustrations.

BY UNCLE FRANK,
AUTHOR OF "A PEEP AT OUR NEIGHBORS," "WILLOW LANE STORIES,"
"THE DIVING BELL," ETC., ETC.


BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.,
PUBLISHERS.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Massachusetts.




C.W. BENEDICT,
STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER,
201 William st., N.Y.




CONTENTS.


                                                             PAGE

A BIRD'S-EYE GLANCE,                                            7

PEDDLERS AND PEDDLING,                                         14

THE OTHER SIDE,                                                32

DEACON BISSELL,                                                36

THE YOUNGEST BOY,                                              48

A NOBLE RESOLUTION,                                            60

A TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE,                                       75

THANKSGIVING AND TEMPTATION,                                   80

PATRIOTISM AND POWDER,                                         89

THE GLASS OF GIN,                                             100

LIFE IN A FACTORY,                                            111

A GLANCE AT FREDERICK,                                        120

SAMUEL IN BOSTON,                                             132

THE FLOUR STORE,                                              140

THE WINDING UP,                                               152




ILLUSTRATIONS.


THE PEDDLER AND HIS GRANDCHILDREN,                 (Frontispiece)

VIGNETTE TITLE-PAGE,                                            1

SAMUEL AND THE SCHOOLMASTER,                                   52

LOOKING THROUGH THE TELESCOPE,                                 65

A TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE,                                       74

THE YOUNG DRUMMER,                                             93

THE DRUNKARD, WITH HIS FATHER,                                128

MR. BISSELL AND HIS CHILDREN,                                 147




THE PEDDLER'S BOY.




CHAP. I.

A BIRD'S-EYE GLANCE.


Among the many beautiful villages near Boston, there is one quite as
beautiful as any, situated but a few miles from that busy metropolis,
called--but I must not mention its name; that is of very little
consequence. A few rods from the Common, the pride of the Bostonians,
is the depot of the railroad which passes through this place; and one
has only to jump into the cars, and in less than fifteen minutes he is
there. Uncle Frank has some dear friends in this village, and choice
spirits they are, in his estimation. How much this fact has to do with
his opinion of the beauty of the place, he does not pretend to say. He
has scarcely settled it in his own mind. Nor is it much matter, as the
story about to be related will neither lose nor gain much in its
interest, by the good or ill opinion which the reader may happen to
have of the village itself; though I may be pardoned for adding that
I should put rather a low value upon the taste of that man, or woman,
or child, who could visit this part of the country, when Nature has
her best dress on, and not pronounce it one of the most delightful
spots, in his or her opinion, that the sun or moon ever shone upon.

Among my friends in this charming village, is one whom, at present, I
will call Mr. Bissell--Mr. _Samuel Bissell_. I will call him so for
the present, I say. His real name is no more like Bissell than yours
is--no more like Samuel Bissell than it is like John Smith or George
Jones; but I think he will forgive us, though, for taking such a
liberty with his "good name," should he ever happen to come across
this story, and should it prove to him a sort of looking-glass, in
which he can see his own features.

When he was a lad, about twelve years old, his father, who had been
possessed of a handsome property, failed in business, and as Samuel
says, "became as poor as a church mouse." What would have taken place
if Samuel's father had been successful in his business affairs, so
that it would not have been absolutely necessary for the lad to work
for a living, is more than I can say.