ne taking the place of another, but the
shilling from home was always put back, and had to remain in the
purse, which was certainly a mark of distinction. Many weeks passed,
during which the shilling had travelled a long distance in the
purse, without in the least knowing where he was. He had found out
that the other coins were French and Italian; and one coin said they
were in this town, and another said they were in that, but the
shilling was unable to make out or imagine what they meant. A man
certainly cannot see much of the world if he is tied up in a bag,
and this was really the shilling's fate. But one day, as he was
lying in the purse, he noticed that it was not quite closed, and so he
slipped near to the opening to have a little peep into society. He
certainly had not the least idea of what would follow, but he was
curious, and curiosity often brings its own punishment. In his
eagerness, he came so near the edge of the purse that he slipped out
into the pocket of the trousers; and when, in the evening, the purse
was taken out, the shilling was left behind in the corner to which
it had fallen. As the clothes were being carried into the hall, the
shilling fell out on the floor, unheard and unnoticed by any one.
The next morning the clothes were taken back to the room, the
gentleman put them on, and started on his journey again; but the
shilling remained behind on the floor. After a time it was found,
and being considered a good coin, was placed with three other coins.
"Ah," thought the shilling, "this is pleasant; I shall now see the
world, become acquainted with other people, and learn other customs."

"Do you call that a shilling?" said some one the next moment.
"That is not a genuine coin of the country,--it is false; it is good
for nothing."

Now begins the story as it was afterwards related by the
shilling himself.

"'False! good for nothing!' said he. That remark went through
and through me like a dagger. I knew that I had a true ring, and
that mine was a genuine stamp. These people must at all events be
wrong, or they could not mean me. But yes, I was the one they called
'false, and good for nothing.'

"'Then I must pay it away in the dark,' said the man who had
received me. So I was to be got rid of in the darkness, and be again
insulted in broad daylight.

"'False! good for nothing!' Oh, I must contrive to get lost,
thought I. And I trembled between the fingers of the people every time
they tried