THE HONEST ERRAND BOY

New Zealand Tablet, 27 November 1913, Page 61

THE HONEST ERRAND BOY

This boy thought that ‘ a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,’ for he had found a gold piece that the gentleman dropped and he ran eagerly to give it back. At first the man said that it was not his, but the boy said: ‘Yes, indeed it is. I saw it drop from your hand when you paid a cabman.’ ‘ Why, that was many streets back! ’ said the gentleman. Yes, he knows he ran all the way as hard as he could he had a job to catch him. ‘Are you a rich boy, that you can afford to give up a gold piece when you find one?’ said the gentleman. ‘ Rich, sir ? I have one dollar a week as an errand boy. But the money was yours, sir, not mine. I like to earn money, not steal it.’ The gentleman smiled, but only said, putting the gold piece in his pocket; ‘Well, thank you, my lad; good day. Say, where do you live?’ The boy told him, and then they went different ways. A month or two afterwards, when the boy had forgotten the circumstance, he found a gentleman seated in the room with his mother when he came home from work. He recognised him at once. The gentleman said he had come to offer him a situation; it was one of great trust, and he offered it to him because he proved himself worthy of trust. The boy’s ‘ good name ’ had stood him in good stead.