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the table. It would mean more money for pencils and paper for school work. Perhaps he could even go along with the other kids when they bought bread and sardines for their favorite sardine loaf.

His First Thirty-five Cents

George hunted around for a job. Finally, he landed one with a fish market. He was supposed to deliver orders on a bicycle, after school and all day Saturday. He could not ride a bike—he had to drag it up and down the hills—he was slow making his deliveries, and after a few days he was fired.

He was not discouraged. By sheer luck, he got a job as a caddy, when a grouchy old man selected him out of a long line of boys ahead of him. George managed to please him; at the end of nine holes, he gave him a quarter and a dime tip. Proudly he took it home to his mother—the first thirty-five cents he had ever earned. She was as proud as George.

To get work as a caddy, you had to be at the links by four o'clock. The links were three and a half miles away from school. George used to trot home from school, drop his books, pick up a piece of bread, and continue on the run for the golf course. On Saturdays, he would caddy all day. The fellows used to average fifty cents a day; after work, they would get a ride to town and all stop off at a bakery, where they'd squander a dime on some delicious pastry. Once in a great while, they would even go to a Wild West Show, the most popular thing in town and a special treat.

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A Blasted Career

Miss Smith, who ran the grocery store, took an interest in George, because of his ambition. She decided to make a business man of him. George would help her by selling coal oil, candy, and other provisions; she would give George the candy that had melted and become too soft to sell, and smoked sausages and other meats for the family table.

The year that George finished grade school, his uncle came to visit. He persuaded the family to move North, where they'd have a better chance. George's father got a job in a steel mill. Wages were better—but the cost of living was higher. The family was growing up, and their needs were increasing. George's sister had a fine voice—everybody had great hopes for her. But lack of money, making it hard to get books and clothing, let alone singing lessons, put an end to this ambition. She never gave up her secret ambition—but she had to go to work; soon she got married, and all her attention was turned towards her husband and home. It was then that all the hopes of the family were turned towards George.

Twelve Hours Work—for Seven Hours School

He got a job running errands for a drug store, earning five dollars a week. He kept half, half he gave to the family. But the store was forced out of business, and George was out of a job again. He determined not to quit school, even for a short period. Once out always out—that had been the experience of too many of his friends. Finally he picked up
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