148 THE FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS BANK 
year, of three hundred and twelve working days, amounts 
to thirty-one dollars and twenty cents. ($31.20) 
How nice to have that much cash to put by at Christ- 
mas! 
Now, what will you do with 122 Will you put it away in 
an old stocking, or hide it in a crack in the floor, where 
bad folks may steal it, or the mice eat it up? Or, suppose 
it isn’t stolen or eaten up by mice; if safe hid away it 
would be making nothing for you. It would be like the 
unfaithful steward’s talent, which the Bible tells of! You 
know his Lord, when he came, condemned him for having 
hidden his talent in a napkin. He called him “a wicked 
and slothful servant.” 
Instead, then, of hiding your savings in a napkin, put 
it in the bank, where it will be making money for you. 
You will get, we will say, six per cent interest for it. 
Now let us see how much a man, who saves ten cents 
every working day for ten years, will have if he puts it 
at interest: 
The first year he will have........... 20 
The second year he will have. ..... 27 
The third year he will have........ 2 05 
The fourth year he will have....... Hg 
The fifth year he will have.... ...... 24.38 
The sixth year he will have........... 41.74 
The seventh year he will have. ....... 44.24 
The eighth year he will have........... 46.90 
The ninth year he will have. ......... 49.71 
The tenth year he will have. ......... 52.69 
And at the end of ten years he will be 
worth in cash... == =mimam—— 3211.13 
And all this from saving the price of a mean cigar and 
a vile glass of liquor every day! There is no excuse for any 
healthy man being poor in this country. The richest men 
in it began by small savings. The merchant, Billy Gray, 
of Boston, saved his first dollar by carrying bricks. Then 
he added another and another to that, and saved the 
interest, and put that on interest, and at last had many 
millions of dollars.