e seal, on which shines a red cross of Greece, for one little
penny, has grown and grown, until with the seals and pennies I have made
over a million dollars to help suffering human beings.

Now, let me tell you how it has been done. I am printed about six weeks
before Christmas. After I am printed, with my red crosses and holly
wreaths, and "Merry Christmas," agents advertise me in every nook and
corner of the country. I go to every little village--especially where
there are women interested in doing good for others.

I am sold to seal packages to go to far-away countries; I am used to
paste on the back of letters; I go everywhere carrying the message of
"Peace and good will to men."

In every place that I go some one is talking and writing about how to
prevent tuberculosis, the "great white plague," as Oliver Wendell Holmes
called it--the terrible disease that has killed so many people--more
than all the wars of the world. Seventy-five to ninety per cent. of all
the money I bring is used in the community in which I am sold.

The money I bring is used to hire nurses to go down into the crowded
city districts to care for the poor consumptives crowded in the tenement
houses. It may help to send a poor little cripple, with tuberculosis of
the hip-joint, to the "Fresh Air Home" in the mountains, where she has
a chance to get well. It often aids in sending a tired, sick mother to
the seashore in summer, where she finds rest and health. It aids in
sending some one to the schools to teach the gospel of fresh air, good
food, and pure water for the children.

So you see my mission has always been one of mercy, hope and health. Yet
I am such a little thing--just a bit of paper, bearing a little red
cross on a white shield, worth only a penny. "Great oaks from little
acorns grow," you know.

QUESTIONS

1. When were the first stamps used to make money
for charitable purposes?

2. Who first suggested using such stamps to aid
the fight on tuberculosis?

3. Who was Jacob Riis? Who was Oliver Wendell
Holmes?

4. Why is the cross of Greece used on the stamps?
What does it signify?

5. What is done with the money gotten from the
sale of the Red Cross seal?

6. Do you think it a good cause? Why? Will you
join the band of workers who are fighting "the
great white plague?"

[Illustration: OUT