The Happy Hollisters and the Secret of the Lucky Coins

The Happy Hollisters and the Secret of the Lucky Coins — page 5
owned it was trying to coax the bird back into its cage when Sue came along The parakeet was sitting on a hedge Sue declared and I caught it in my hands Yikes That was keen Ricky said proudly But what's that got to do with your secret Sue explained that she had carried the parakeet into the lady's house and placed it in its cage Then I got a reward That's the secret Oh I know what it is Ricky said You're holding a nickel behind your back Sue giggled and replied No it's littler than that A penny Holly said When Sue had nodded vigorously Ricky nibbled at the edge of his disappearing cone and said What's so secret about a penny It's a lucky penny Sue replied But I'm not going to show it to you I'll give you two licks of my ice cream cone if you will Holly offered Sue accepted and took one lick Then she held out her fist and opened it In the palm of her hand was a copper coin much larger than the pennies the children were used to seeing Around the edge were thirteen stars In the center was a Liberty head and beneath it the date 1817 Ricky looked at the coin solemnly as if he knew all about 1817 pennies What's lucky about that big jumbo he asked popping the last bit of cone into his mouth