Oscar was very desirous that his dog Tiger should wear a brass collar, by way of ornament and distinction.  All other respectable dogs bore upon their necks this badge of ownership, and he thought it highly important that Tiger should be on a good footing with his canine friends.  But how to get the collar, was the question that perplexed him.  He had asked his father to buy it, and met with a flat refusal.  He had even called at several shops, and inquired the price of the coveted article, but it was hopelessly beyond his means.  The subject lay heavily upon his mind for several days, for when he took a notion that he wanted a thing, it was hard to reason or drive him out of it.  His thoughts and his dreams were of brass dog-collars, and his talk among his companions run upon the same theme.  At length, while prosecuting his inquiries, he happened to learn that a little boy who attended his school, owned just such a collar as he wanted, and had no dog to wear it.  Here was a chance for a speculation.  Oscar lost no time in seeing this boy, and in getting his lowest price for the collar, which was fifty cents.  This was much less than the price at the shops, and Oscar thought his father might be induced, by this fact, to let him have the money to purchase it; but Mr. Preston did not think Tiger needed any such appendage, and Oscar’s request was again denied.

Oscar now set his wits to work to devise a way of buying the collar, without his father’s aid.  He looked over the little collection of “goods and chattels,” which he called his own, to see what there was he could exchange for the article he wanted.  His eye soon fell upon a brass finger ring, and his plan was quickly formed.  The ring had been tumbled about among his playthings for a year or two, and was now dull and dingy; but he remembered that he once cleaned and polished it, so that it looked very much like gold, so long as the lustre lasted.  He subjected it to this process again, and it soon looked as well as the plain gold ring he wore upon his finger, which it somewhat resembled in size and color.  Substituting it for the gold ring, he wore it to school that afternoon; and a little negotiation, after school was dismissed, settled the business—­the coveted dog-collar was his!  Indeed, so craftily did he conduct the bargain, that he made the other boy throw in a pretty ivory pocket-comb to boot!  The little boy who was thus cruelly deceived, supposed he was buying the ring that Oscar usually wore; and, in truth, Oscar did give him to understand, in the course of the barter, that it was fine gold, a point on which the other boy did not appear to have much doubt.

Oscar did not dare to tell any one what a good bargain he had made, for fear that the other boy would hear of it.  Tiger appeared with a handsome collar around his neck the next morning; and all the explanation any one could get from his young master was, that he “traded for it.”