I wonder what has become of those many, many little red "guinea-
peas" we had to play with! It never seemed as if they really
belonged to the vegetable world, notwithstanding their name.
We had foreign coins mixed in with our large copper cents,--all
kinds, from the Russian "kopeck" to the "half-penny token" of
Great Britain. Those were the days when we had half cents in
circulation to make change with. For part of our currency was the
old-fashioned "ninepence,"--twelve and a half cents, and the
"four pence ha'penny,"--six cents and a quarter. There was a good
deal of Old England about us still.
And we had also many living reminders of strange lands across the
sea. Green parrots went scolding and laughing down the thimble-
berry hedges that bordered the cornfields, as much at home out of
doors as within. Java sparrows and canaries and other tropical
songbirds poured their music out of sunny windows into the
street, delighting the ears of passing school children long
before the robins came.
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