ose father and mother neglect it, was left to take care of itself.
In 1649, King Charles was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell then became Protector
of England; and as he was a Puritan himself, and had risen by the valor of
the English Puritans, he showed himself a loving and indulgent father to
the Puritan colonies in America."

Grandfather might have continued to talk in this dull manner, nobody knows
how long; but, suspecting that Charley would find the subject rather dry,
he looked sideways at that vivacious little fellow, and saw him give an
involuntary yawn. Whereupon, Grandfather proceeded with the history of the
chair, and related a very entertaining incident, which will be found in
the next chapter.

Chapter VI

"According to the most authentic records, my dear children," said
Grandfather, "the chair, about this time, had the misfortune to break its
leg. It was probably on account of this accident, that it ceased to be the
seat of the governors of Massachusetts; for, assuredly, it would have been
ominous of evil to the commonwealth, if the Chair of State had tottered
upon three legs. Being therefore sold at auction,--alas! what a vicissitude
for a chair that had figured in such high company, our venerable friend
was knocked down to a certain Captain John Hull. This old gentleman, on
carefully examining the maimed chair, discovered that its broken leg might
be clamped with iron and made as serviceable as ever."

"Here is the very leg that was broken!" exclaimed Charley, throwing
himself down on the floor to look at it. "And here are the iron clamps.
How well it was mended!"

When they had all sufficiently examined the broken leg, Grandfather told
them a story about Captain John Hull and

THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS

The Captain John Hull, aforesaid, was the mint-master of Massachusetts,
and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of
business: for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current coinage
consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain. These
coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their
commodities, instead of selling them.

For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he perhaps exchanged a
bear-skin for it. If he wished for a barrel of molasses, he might purchase
it with a pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used instead of
farthings. The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was made
of clam-shells; and this