Should he buy candy or toys?  It had been a long time since he had tasted candy.  As for toys, he hardly knew what they were.

If he had been the only child in the family, things might have been different.  But there were fourteen boys and girls older than he, and two little sisters that were younger.

It was as much as his father could do to earn food and clothing for so many.  There was no money to spend for toys.

Before Benjamin had gone very far he met a boy blowing a whistle.

“That is just the thing that I want,” he said.  Then he hurried on to the store where all kinds of things were kept for sale.

“Have you any good whistles?” he asked.

He was out of breath from running, but he tried hard to speak like a man.

“Yes, plenty of them,” said the man.

“Well, I want one, and I’ll give you all the money I have for it,” said the little fellow.  He forgot to ask the price.

“How much money have you?” asked the man.

Benjamin took the coppers from his pocket.  The man counted them and said, “All right, my boy.  It’s a bargain.”

Then he put the pennies into his money drawer, and gave one of the whistles to the boy.

Benjamin Franklin was a proud and happy boy.  He ran home as fast as he could, blowing his whistle as he ran.

His mother met him at the door and said, “Well, my child, what did you do with your pennies?”

“I bought a whistle!” he cried.  “Just hear me blow it!”

“How much did you pay for it?”

“All the money I had.”

One of his brothers was standing by and asked to see the whistle.  “Well, well!” he said, “did you spend all of your money for this thing?”

“Every penny,” said Benjamin.

“Did you ask the price?”

“No.  But I offered them to the man, and he said it was all right.”

His brother laughed and said, “You are a very foolish fellow.  You paid four times as much as it is worth.”

“Yes,” said his mother, “I think it is rather a dear whistle.  You had enough money to buy a whistle and some candy, too.”

The little boy saw what a mistake he had made.  The whistle did not please him any more.  He threw it upon the floor, and began to cry.  But his mother took him upon her lap and said: 

“Never mind, my child.  We must all live and learn; and I think that my little boy will be careful, after this, not to pay too dear for his whistles.”

* * * * *

II.—­SCHOOLDAYS.

When Benjamin Franklin was a boy there were no great public schools in Boston as there are now.  But he learned to read almost as soon as he could talk, and he was always fond of books.

His nine brothers were older than he, and every one had learned a trade.  They did not care so much for books.

“Benjamin shall be the scholar of our family,” said his mother.