ip. Once or
twice afterwards he went on the same errand, and succeeded very well.
But he became weary of the business, for some reason, before he sold all
the squashes, and he hit upon this expedient to finish the work.

"Sis," said he to a sister younger than himself, "I will give you one of
my pictures for every squash you will sell. You can carry three or four
at a time easy enough."

Sis accepted the proposition with a good deal of pleasure; for she was
fond of drawings, and Nat had some very pretty ones. He possessed a
natural taste for drawing, and he had quite a collection of birds,
beasts, houses, trees, and other objects, drawn and laid away carefully
in a box. For a boy of his age, he was really quite an artist. His
squashes were not better than his drawings. His patience, perseverance,
industry, and self-reliance, made him successful both as a gardener and
artist.

In a few days, "Sis" had sold the last squash, and received her pay,
according to the agreement. The sequel will show that peddling squashes
was the only enterprise which Nat undertook and failed to carry
through. His failure there is quite unaccountable, when you connect it
with every other part of his life.

We are reminded that many men of mark commenced their career by
peddling. The great English merchant, Samuel Budgett, when he was about
ten years old, went out into the streets to sell a bird, in order that
he might get some funds to aid his poor mother. The first money that Dr.
Kitto obtained was the proceeds of the sale of _labels_, which he made
and peddled from shop to shop. One of the wealthiest men we know, a
Christian man distinguished for his large benevolence, commenced his
mercantile career by peddling goods that he carried in a band-box from
one milliner's shop to another. "You must creep before you can walk," is
an old maxim, and the lives of all distinguished men verify the proverb.
He who creeps well, will walk so much the better by and by; but he who
is ashamed to creep, must never expect to walk. We know a successful
merchant who commenced the work of an errand-boy in a large mercantile
house, when he was about twelve years old. He was not mortified to be
caught with a bundle in hand in the street, nor to be seen sweeping the
store. Not feeling above his business, he discharged his duties as well
as he could. When he swept he swept,--every nook and corner was
thoroughly cleaned out. When he carried a bundle, he carried
it