The Three Rolls
Early in the morning of an October day, young Benjamin Franklin, seventeen years old and seeking his fortune, reached Philadelphia. He was tired and hungry, and had only a dollar of his little fund left.
He stopped at a baker’s, and bought three big puffy rolls. He put a roll under each arm, and, munching the third, walked along Market Street.
In the doorway of a house, stood a young girl. She saw the awkward, handsome boy, trudging past hungrily eating a big roll. She laughed to herself; she thought it funny to see him with his broad-brimmed hat, knee-breeches, and buckled shoes all shabby and dusty, and his great pockets stuffed with stockings and shirts.
So she laughed to herself, did Deborah Read. And little she knew that in a few years, she would become that boy’s wife! But so it happened.
Young Benjamin Franklin found work in a printer’s shop. He came to lodge at Deborah Read’s home. In a few years, he owned his own printing press. He married Deborah Read. He became a well-known printer. He issued an influential newspaper, and published “Poor Richard’s Almanack.” He was industrious, studious, thrifty, and prosperous. In time, he became the most famous and learned citizen of Pennsylvania, and a great American Patriot.