There once were four orphan boys: Tom who was 13, Jack who was 12, Max who was 11, and Johnny, who was…well, nobody knew when he was born, but he must have been around the same age as the others. These four boys wore ragged clothes and lived in the hallway of a broken down abandoned building.

These boys were poor, but they had something very special. Yes, they were all best friends! They had each other and this made them rich in love and happiness, comfort and care, for they loved one another deeply and were always there for each other during hard times.

Every day this gang of four would go downtown and beg for money or food. Then they’d go out on the streets and play kick-the-can, tag, or hide-and-seek.

Sometimes when things were difficult for them they would pretend that they lived in a beautiful palace, with rich foods and lush gardens, and parents who gave them everything they wanted. They thought that all of this would make them truly happy. But one day they met a boy who would change all that.

“Hey, boys,” Jack said, “Look at that rich boy over there. Here’s our chance to pay for our lunch! Maybe he’ll give us some money for food.”

“Hi there, what’s your name?”

“Uh… it’s Jimmy,” he replied with a little hesitation, being taken back by so many street boys coming up to him all at once.

“It must be so wonderful to be rich,” Max said. “You must be so glad. We’re poor, but I wouldn’t say we’re sad, because we have each other, right?”

“Right!” they all chorused.

“Well,” Jimmy said sadly, “Just being rich doesn’t make you happy if you have no friends and no one to play with. Why, I look at you and I see that you have something that I don’t have–you have each other. I have things, but I’m all alone most of the time. I wish I had good friends like you, I think friends are more important than riches.”

“Really, do you think so?” Jack said in surprise.

“No,” Johnny added with a giggle. “That couldn’t possibly be so. If I was rich I would be so happy with all my things, and I don’t think I’d need any friends.”

“I don’t know,” Jack added. “I couldn’t imagine my life without all of you, but I’d sure like to try being rich for a while!”

And so the boys discussed the matter back and forth. Then Jimmy had an idea.

“Hey, Jack,” Jimmy said. “You look just like me, why don’t we try it? Father is so busy, he hardly talks to me. I’m sure he wouldn’t even notice the difference.”

“Oh boy, that would be so great!! I’d get to sleep in a nice warm bed, eat delicious food, be in a beautiful house…” Jack said softly, his excitement dying down. “Are you sure you want to stay out here, Jimmy? Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Jimmy said. “I could use some adventure in my life!”

So Jack and Jimmy traded places. This was lots of fun for the boys. Jack couldn’t wait to try out being a rich kid; and Max, Johnny and Tom were excited about showing their new friend what life on the street was like, and telling him all their exciting stories.

Now, let’s let Jack tell us the story:

We all got aboard the trolley car*, and headed to Jimmy’s home. On the way, Jimmy explained to me everything that I would need to know to pass myself off as Jimmy.

When we arrived, they all stood around a corner as I went up to the gate. They watched with bated breath as I approached the door, with my head hanging low.

When the butler opened the door, he greeted me, “Ah, young Master Baker, supper is waiting for you.”

I walked in, trying to act as casual as possible, following the directions that Jimmy had given me. I sat down at one end of the table, doing my best not to stare at everything. Jim’s father sat at the other end of the table, and as Jim had said, he hardly seemed to notice me. At the end of the meal, as he stood up to leave the table, he simply said:

“Jimmy, I know it’s the weekend, but I have a very busy day tomorrow with business to take care of. You can have one of the servants drive you wherever you want to go. I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Father,” I replied. “I’ll be fine!”

Without saying goodnight or anything, Jimmy’s father walked away from the table. Well, that didn’t bother me; in fact I was quite relieved that I didn’t have to talk much, as it would probably have given me away. I headed off to where I knew Jimmy’s room would be.

I walked into the room and saw this king-sized bed with silken covers and fluffy pillows. A warm bath had been prepared for me, so I sank into the tub and enjoyed it to the full. That night I slept just like a baby. I’d never slept in a bed before.

The next morning I wondered how Jimmy was doing. After breakfast I headed out to a toyshop, and bought a train set, like I had always dreamed of. I had it delivered to the house and spent the afternoon building it. After setting the whole thing up and letting the train run a few rounds around the track, I got bored. It really isn’t all that fun playing with the train set by myself–it just isn’t the same without someone to share the fun with, I thought.

That night I began to feel a little bit lonely. I wondered if this was what Jimmy had meant, about it being better to have friends than riches. I wanted to go back and be with my friends. That night, it took me a long time to go to sleep. I kept wondering what they were doing, and how much fun they must be having together.

When I woke up the next morning, I decided to go find Jimmy and my friends. Before anyone noticed it, I was up and out of the house. I headed down to the old building, and sure enough, by the time I got there, they were all gathered on the floor playing a game. Jimmy was laughing and smiling! Boy, was he changed!

“Jimmy, I want to switch back! I don’t want to be you any more. You’re right, it’s really not that much fun. There’s nobody to talk to, no one to play with. I wanna be myself again–even if it means being poor.”

My friends looked the most surprised. “You want to be poor again?”

I laughed at myself. It sounded funny, but I knew that it was what I wanted.

Jimmy reluctantly* said that he would return to his own house, and his father. We decided to go with him. As normal, the butler answered the door, and was quite surprised to see Jimmy standing there with us four rag-tag orphans behind him. But Jimmy said we were his friends and was pretty insistent, so the butler reluctantly let us in.

Jimmy told his dad everything that had happened, and how for the past two days he had not even been at home, and how his dad had never even noticed.

His father listened with stunned surprise, and then began to get angry, scolding him for being so foolish as to stay on the street with nothing but beggar children.

Then, to add to his father’s shock, Jimmy motioned for Tom, Jack and the others to enter the room. “Father, I don’t want to live here any more. You’re so busy that you don’t even know me. I’d rather be with these kids, my friends. I want to be able to feel happy and loved, and cared for. These boys care for me.” One by one he introduced us by name.

His father’s face suddenly grew sad. It looked as though his father would start to cry. I guess he had just been so busy that he never realized how lonely Jimmy really was. He thought that by giving him all that he wanted, Jimmy would be happy, but he wasn’t.

“Jimmy,” he said with a shaky voice, “I… I love you, perhaps more than I have shown you, and I’m so sorry that I haven’t been here for you like I should. And as for your new friends, why don’t we invite them to stay with us for awhile?”

“Do you really mean that?” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Sure, Son. We have plenty of rooms in the house, and I’m sure it’s a lot better than what they have now.”

Tears came to Jimmy’s eyes, as he rushed over to embrace his father for the first time in years. “Thank you Father, I love you, too!” Jimmy exclaimed.

And that’s how it was that Mr. Baker took us all in that day, and cared for us, as well as for Jimmy, just like he was our own dad. He got us all cleaned up, and even sent us to school where we learned a lot of useful things. But we also went out and did fun things together with Jimmy, and his father, and the other neighborhood kids.