[Illustration: Aunt Fanny's new little Friend. ] LITTLE MITTENS FOR THE LITTLE DARLINGS: BEING THE SECOND BOOK OF THE SERIES. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SIX NIGHTCAP BOOKS, ETC. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 1863. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1862, byFANNY BARROW, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for theSouthern District of New York. TO ANNIE LOUISA, MY NEW LITTLE FRIEND, THESE _Mitten Stories_ ARE LOVINGLY DEDICATED. CONTENTS. THE LITTLE KITTENS, 7 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT, 39 LITTLE SALLIE'S LONG WORDS, 60 THE LITTLE NEW FRIEND, 108 ILKEN ANNIE, 117 THE LITTLE KITTENS. Only to think! A letter from Aunt Fanny to the little ones, which beginsin this fanny way: "YOU DARLING KITTENS--" All the small children looked at Mary O'Reilly--who sat staring at thefire, with her whiskers sticking up in the air, and then felt theirfaces with their little fat hands. They did not find the least scrap ofa whisker anywhere on their round cheeks; and Pet said--"But I a ittlegirl; I not a kitty"--at which all the family laughed, and ran to kissher--and she thought she had been very smart, I can tell you; andclapped her hands and said again--"No! I not a kitty!" and all the restof the little ones said they were not kittens, and for two minutesthere was such fun, everybody mewing like cats, and patting each othersoftly for play. The little mother said they must all have been toCatalonia; and that might be the reason why Aunt Fanny called them"kittens;" or perhaps it was because _she loved them_. So she began again: * * * * * DARLING KITTENS-- _You_ must have stories as well as the rest--of course you must. If Ishould forget to write some for such sweet little monkeys as you, thatI know and love so dearly, and some other sweet little monkeys that Idon't know, but love very much; why, Mr. Appleton, who has sweet littlemonkeys of his own, would say to me with a grave face--"Aunt Fanny! I'msurprised at you! What do you mean by such conduct? What has become ofthat big room in your heart, which you keep brimful of love for babiesand little bits of children? Do you want them to sit humdrum on rainydays, when they are tired of playing with dolls, and tops, and kittens, and have no story book for their kind mammas to read to them? This willnever do, Aunt Fanny. Please to begin right away!" Oh! what a dreadful thing it would be, for any one to suppose that I didnot love you any more. I could not bear it; so here I am beginning"right away, " and the very first thing that comes into my mind is astory about kittens. What do you think of that! you lovely little red, white, and blue darlings! with your pretty red cheeks, pure white skins, and sweet blue eyes! The bright hazel, gray, and black eyes are like thestars; so no wonder we love the "star-spangled banner, " when suchprecious little ones as you wear the very same colors as the dear oldflag. Then-- "Hurrah for the children forever, And three cheers for the red, white, and blue. " And now for the kitten story. THE LITTLE KITTENS. One cold, bright day in the middle of last winter, a lady came to seeme. She brought with her two little girls with the roundest and rosiestfaces; even their dear little noses were red as roses for a minute ortwo, till they got warm, because Mr. Jack Frost had been pinching themall the way from their house to mine. But he couldn't get at theirfingers, for they were covered with pretty white mittens, and they hadon such warm coats and nice fur tippets, and so many cunning littleflannel petticoats about a quarter of a yard long, that they looked asround as dumplings. Their fat legs were all packed up in woollenleggings; and they had little brown button-over boots--with, would youbelieve it? heels! Just to think of it! heels! and they didn't tumbledown either. Well, I gave them--guess how many kisses, apiece? and thentheir mamma and I sat down to talk. It was very _old_ kind of talk: allabout "contrabands" (that's a _very_ hard word, isn't it?) and about thebest way to make noodle soup, and so on. The children did not care a figabout that kind of talk; so they walked off to a corner, and began toplay with some funny things they found. One was an old man all made ofblack wadding, and another was a very fat old woman made of whitewadding. The old woman hadn't the least speck of a foot to stand on; herbody was just a great round roll of wadding, without legs; I never saw areal, live old woman without legs, did you? But this one must have comefrom no one knows where. You see, she and the black wadding man wereleft by Santa Claus one Christmas night, who drove off in his sleigh insuch a hurry that he forgot even to leave a card with their names; andthat's just the long and the short of it, or the black and the white ofit. Pretty soon Sarah, my daughter, came into the room. "Oh you dear, dear, little things!" she cried, "I am so glad to see you!" "Then tell me a story, " said Mary, the elder. "Would you like to hear about the three little kittens that lost theirmittens?" "O yes, yes!" they both exclaimed. Then Sarah took dear little Charlotte upon her lap, and Mary stoodclose to her knee, pressing lovingly against her; her large dark eyeswere fastened on Sarah's face, for she did not mean to lose a singleword of the delightful story; and Sarah began: "Three little kittens Lost their mittens; And they began to cry: 'Oh mother dear, We very much fear, That we have lost our mittens. '" "Oh, what bad kittens! I shame for them!" said Charlotte. [Illustration: "Oh, Mamma, dear, We very much fear That we have lost our Mittens!"] "Their mamma was 'shame' too, " continued Sarah, "for she gave them a dabwith her paw on their ears, and said in a severe voice: "'Lost your mittens? Oh, you naughty kittens! Now you shan't have any pie!" and then she gave them each such a good whipping that the tears ran downon the ground, and made it very damp. "But the three little kittens, _Found_ their mittens, And they began to cry, 'Oh, mother dear, Only see here, See! just look! we have found our mittens. '" "Oh! I so _grad_, " said little Charlotte, and she clapped her hands; andthen gazing at her own pretty white mittens, held them up, and cried:"Look! _I've_ got mittens! look! look!" "So you have, " said Sarah, kissing her--"and they keep your hands niceand warm, don't they?" "Did they keep the kittens' hands warm too?" asked little Mary. "Yes, as warm as toast; and their mother was so glad they were found, that she hugged her three children to her breast, and cried: "'Found your mittens? Oh, you dear, good little kittens! _Now_ you _shall_ have some pie. ' "Then she got a large apple pie out of the closet, and cut them atremendous slice apiece; and the little kittens were so glad that theykept saying, 'purr purr purr, ' which meant, 'Thank you, ma'am! Oh, thank you, ma'am! Thank you very much. ' "But, dear me, what a pity! they forgot to take their mittens off; andsuch a sticky, lot, when they were done eating, you never saw! They werefull of bits of apple, and sugar, and crumbs of buttery pie crust. Thekittens stared with dismal faces at their mother, and it was plain tosee that "The three little kittens Had _soiled_ their mittens; And they began to cry: 'Oh, mother dear, We very much fear, That we have soiled our mittens. ' "This was really dreadful! The old cat started up, her whiskers curlingwith rage; she very nearly danced on her hind legs, she was so angry. Itwasn't right to get into such a passion; but then you know she was onlyan old cat, and had not read that pretty verse which begins, 'Let dogsdelight to bark and bite;' so she mewed, and snarled, and made her tailup into an arch, and said very crossly: "'You've soiled your mittens? Oh! you naughty, bad kittens!' and she whipped them so dreadfully this time, that they cried till thetears made a little puddle on the ground. " "Oh my!" said Charlotte, and her bright black eyes looked very sorry. "Oh my!" said Mary, exactly like her little sister. Sarah laughed a little bit, and said, "Oh my!" too. "_Your_ dear mammawouldn't do so, would she?" she asked. "Oh no!" cried both the children; and then they had to get down, and runto kiss their mother; whose large dark eyes were full of love for herdarlings. "After the poor kittens had wiped their eyes, and blowed their noses, and sighed two or three times, one of them said to the others, "Don'tcry any more. Let's get our little pails and fill them with water andborrow a piece of soap from the cook, and wash our mittens. " "'Oh yes! you darling sister, to think of such a nice plan!' cried theother two; and they rolled over on their backs, and flourished all theirsoft paws in the air together, they were so glad. "So the three little kittens Washed their mittens, And hung them up to dry. "Then they ran to their mother, who was fast asleep on the rug, withher tail curled round her; but they did not mind that--which I think wasnot quite polite--for when people and cats are taking a nap, everybodymust keep _very_ quiet, and not go near them or make a noise; but ourfriends, the kittens, did not think, you see: they just went pounceright on top of their mother, and sang out: "'Oh, mother, dear, Only see here, See! open your eye, see! we have _washed_ our mittens. ' "The old cat, for a wonder, did not get angry; instead of that, shesmiled a sweet smile, rubbed her chin with her paw, and in a musical, mewing tone of delighted surprise, exclaimed: "'Washed your mittens! Oh you little ducks of kittens! But s-hh! Listen! I think I hear a rat close by. ' "'Purr purr. ' "'_Mew!_' said one of the little kittens, who was afraid of the rat. "'Hush up, you naughty little kitten! I hear a rat close by. ' "That's all. " * * * * * "Oh!" cried Mary, "tell me about the rat, won't you?" "Well, I believe the old cat ran like lightning after the rat, caughthim, and gave her little kittens a paw apiece, and eat all the rest upherself. " "Every bit?" asked Charlotte. "I don't think she left the least scrap, " said Sarah. "Tell another story, " said Mary. "Ah, _do_!" How we laughed--their mother and I--softly to ourselves, when Mary askedSarah for more stories; Sarah laughed too, and was just going to beginanother, when the mother said it was time to go. So I bid her good-by, and sent my kind regards to Mr. Ewer, the dear little childrens'father--who is a minister, and one of the best men in the whole world;because he is never tired of working for God. Great crowds of people goto hear him preach, and his constant prayer is: that he may bring themall, old and young, to the feet of the Blessed Jesus. I was very sorry to have those sweet little pets go so soon, because Iwanted to talk to them myself; but, _of course_, they must mind theirmother; and I never _tease_ any one to stay. It is not polite; so Ikissed them heartily, and went with them to the front door. The wind blew sharply in my face, and I said, "You dear little kits!I'm glad you are not made of sugar candy; you would snap all to piecessuch a cold day! but here, what is this? where in the world is yourmitten?" There was the darling little Charlotte, standing in the cold, with onlyone white mitten on. "Why dear me!" exclaimed her mother, "what _have_ you done with it?" Then the cunning precious pet laughed out merrily, and turning hersweet face up to us, with the funniest little twist of her eye, lispedout: "I a ittie kitten, I _loss_ my mitten. " We both burst out laughing--we could not help it; but her mother, smoothing the smiles almost away, made believe to be the kittens'mother, and cried out: "Lost your mitten? Oh you naughty little kitten! Now you can't have any pie. " So back we all went to the parlor, both the children laughing, as if itwas the funniest joke in the whole world; and we looked under thetables, and chairs, and sofas, and piano, and into all the corners. Thelittle darlings, dancing up and down, and singing that they were littlekittens, and had lost their mittens, and running all round the room inthe greatest glee. But _we_ could not find the mitten; and after we hadstopped looking, and were feeling very sorry that Mr. Jack Frost wouldhave such a fine chance pinching Charlotte's fingers, what do you thinkthe queer little puss did? Why, she just crept behind the door, whichwas opened way back nearly to the wall, and in a minute, out she cameagain, with the lost mitten. The funny little thing had hidden it thereon purpose, so as to be like the kittens in the story. How we did laugh--for you know she was in play, and did not mean to doanything naughty. She skipped up to her mamma, and chirped out: "See, mamma, dear! Only look here, I found my mitten! didn't I?" And her mother just caught her up in her aims and kissed her, and said: "Found your mitten? Oh, you good little kitten! Now you shall have some pie!" And off they went, the children perfectly delighted with the comicalplay of the kittens. I dare say they hid their mittens again as soon asthey got home. I know I should, if I had been a funny little girl;wouldn't you? But don't hide the soldiers' mittens--for all the world!They wouldn't like that at all, you know; and if any of them was ascross as the old cat, they might ask General McClellan to give themleave of absence, so that they could come and give you what Paddy gavethe drum. "What was that?" "Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat-_too_!" THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. One evening the little mother said: "Here is a sweet little story forthe 'darling kittens'; but first Aunt Fanny requested me to ask Clara torepeat the fourth commandment to the little ones, slowly anddistinctly. " "Yes, mamma, " said Clara, "I will; I know it perfectly. Gentleman andladies, come stand in a row before me. " So the little tots trotted and skipped up to their sister, --who wasquite a great girl in their eyes--and after hopping up and down, firston one foot, then on the other, and puckering up their mouths likelittle bags, to keep all the laugh in tight, they stood almost still. Then Clara all at once grew grave; for she was about to repeat somethingout of the Holy Bible, and although this was a great pleasure to her, she did not dream of even smiling. She began thus, in a clear, distinct voice: THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou laborand do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thyGod: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thydaughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thestranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heavenand earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. " The little ones had listened with great attention, and their mother nowsaid: "My darlings, you know it is wrong to work on Sunday. You see me putall my sewing out of the way on Saturday evenings, and on Sunday I go tochurch; and when I am home, I either read the Holy Bible or a good book, or talk to you. You are very little children, but if you saw any onesewing or working on Sunday, what would you say to them?" "'Member the Sabbath day, " chimed the little ones. "That's right! and you too must never forget to 'keep it holy. ' Thislittle story is about keeping the _fourth commandment; and now I willread it_: "Once upon a time, a pretty little girl was riding in a stage coach, along a country road, with her aunt. She had been making this aunt avisit, and was now coming home to her kind mother. It was a pretty longride, over hill and dale; but Tillie, for that was the little girl'sname, was delighted at first, and laughed every time the stones in theroad made the stage give a jump, and a bump, and a rumble, and atumble. "But pretty soon she began to get tired, and wanted to jump and tumbleherself. She could not run about in a stage coach--of course not--therewas no room; and Tillie's little feet began to kick, because they couldnot get any play. "At last her aunt said, 'Sit still, dear: look at the ducks, and pigs, and geese all along the road; and see those patient oxen in the field, how they turn one way when the farmer says "Gee, " and the other when hesays "Haw. "' "Tillie looked for a moment, and then said, 'Oh, I _so_ tired. ' Justthen she spied a large black and white blanket shawl lying on her aunt'slap. She took it, and with great efforts managed to roll it up, andfasten the roll with two large pins she found in it, which had shinyblack heads. Then she made believe that the shawl was a baby; and verysoon every one in the stage was laughing at her funny talk. "'Oh, my dear baby, ' she said, 'I 'fraid the light hurts your littleeyes; please, auntie, lend me your veil. ' "Her aunt smiled, and gave Tillie her brown barege veil; and the littlegirl spread it tenderly over the top of the shawl, saying, 'There, mybaby, don't cry any more. ' "'Ai! ai! ai! a----i!' screamed the baby--that is, _Tillie_ screamed, and pretended it was her--'ai! ai! a----i!' "'What, darling, what is it?' said Tillie, 'do you want to look out ofthe window and see the pretty trees? So you shall, dearest. There, don'tbump your little head!' And taking off the brown barege veil, she pokedthe top of the shawl out of the window; and it had a real nice timestaring, and did not cry any more. [Illustration: Tillie and her Aunt going up to the House. ] "Pretty soon the stage stopped at the gate leading to Tillie's home. Asher aunt helped the little girl out, the shawl slipped from her hands, and down it fell on the grass. "'Oh, my child! my child!' she exclaimed, 'you have broken your neck!you have broken your neck! Oh, are you _all_ killed?' Then she began toshriek softly, as if the baby was crying her eyes out, until she saw hermother standing, smiling, at the door of the house, when she began tolaugh, and forgetting all about her poor baby, sprang to her arms, looking very much like a dear little baby herself. "The next day was Sunday. Tillie had been taught to keep it holy. Shenever wanted to play with her dolls or toys, but liked to go to churchwith her papa and mamma, and if she did not quite understand all thatthe good minister said, she always sat very still. The naughty littlegirl in the next pew would try her best to make Tillie laugh. She wouldtie knots in the corners of her pocket handkerchief, and roll it intothe shape of a little fat man, and dance it up and down before her; butTillie would not laugh. Then she would twist her face all kinds of ways, run out her tongue, and pretend to be biting the end of it off; butTillie never so much as smiled. She had been taught the ten commandmentsby her loving mother, and she knew just as well as you or I what thefourth commandment was, and how to keep it. "Well, my little kittens, as I was telling you, it was Sunday--bright, beautiful, but quite cold. "As they went up stairs after breakfast to dress for church, Tillie'saunt said, 'I believe I will wear my black and white blanket shawl, itis so very cold. ' "When she came to take the great black-headed pins out and unfoldit--for it was still a big round roll of a baby--she found it was allcreased, and tumbled, and looked very bad. "'Dear me!' said she to herself, 'I ought to have looked at this lastnight. It was very careless in me. ' "She stood thinking a moment, then went down stairs into the kitchen, and put an iron on the fire. She meant to press out the shawl herself, as the servants might object to ironing on Sunday. "I am sorry to think that you will know by this that Tillie's aunt didnot think of God's holy day and His commandment, as she ought to havedone. "Pretty soon the iron was quite hot. She got out the skirt board, whichhad been put away in the closet, spread her shawl out smooth, and beganto press it back and forth with the hot iron. "Her back was turned to the open door, and she was so busy over hershawl, that she never heard some tiny little pattering footsteps comingdown the stairs; or saw a sweet little child now standing in thedoorway. "It was Tillie, with an expression on her face, half astonishment andhalf sorrow. "She looked on for a moment in silence, while the hot iron went back andforth, back and forth. Then she took two or three steps forward, astrange light came into her eyes, one little hand was raised, and thenthe voice of a child, sorrowful and earnest, uttered these words: _Sixdays shall thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do, but the seventhis the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. _ "Tillie's aunt started, and gave a cry as though some one had struck hera violent blow; so awful did this reproof sound from the mouth of alittle child. Back went the skirt board and iron into the closet, andthe half-smoothed shawl was taken up stairs in silence. "What could she say? She was breaking the fourth commandment; and shewept bitter tears over her great fault; and I am sure, as long as shelives, she will keep the black and white shawl, and remember that Godsaw fit, out of the mouth of a child, to reprove her for working on HisHoly day. " The little children had listened, without losing a single word; and theyunderstood it all, for Willie exclaimed: "Oh, what a naughty aunt! butshe won't do so again, will she, mamma?" "I know a little hymn about Sunday, " said Minnie. "Well, say it, dear, " said the little mother. "I want to sing it, " said Minnie. "So you shall, dear, " answered the mother, "and we will all sing withyou. " The dear child's eyes sparkled with pleasure at this, and she began withher sweet robin's note to sing--I am sure every little boy and girl hasheard it before-- "Lord, how delightful 'tis to see, A whole assembly worship thee. At once they sing, at once they pray; They _hear_ of _heaven_, _and_ learn the way. "I've been to church, and love to go, 'Tis like a little heaven below; Not for my pleasures or my play, WOULD I FORGET THE SABBATH DAY. " All the children joined in singing this hymn, with hearts and voices;and their Heavenly Father heard, and poured his blessing down upon thisgood and happy family. LITTLE SALLIE'S LONG WORDS. This evening the mother said: Here is a story Aunt Fanny wrote a longtime ago, about Sarah, her daughter, and her niece Fanny. It is true, every word; and she says that she was reminded of it by an anecdote, which a lady told her of one of her own dear little daughters. The lady said: "Not long ago my Mary was invited to a children's party. I made her a very pretty dress; and just before she went I kissed herand said, 'Now, my darling, you know what a little tear-coat you are--dotry this time, if you can come home without a single rent in your prettyfrock. ' "'Oh, yes, mamma!' she answered, 'I will take the most _paticularest_care of it;' and she smoothed it softly down, and walked out with sucha funny, mincing step that I had to laugh. "But the little monkey came home a sight to behold; the dress hung intatters, as if some wild animal had torn it in pieces. "'Why!' I exclaimed, 'here's the rag bag walking in. ' "Mary looked in my face with a sweet, sorrowful expression, and trippingclose up to me, with a little, dancing step, on the tips of her toes, said, 'Oh, mamma, I met with _such a unfortin_--I tore my frock; pleaseto excuse me. ' "I had to laugh--and seeing that, she concluded that her 'unfortin' wasrather a good joke--and went laughing and singing off to bed. "But, " Aunt Fanny goes on to say, "you dear little darlings, pleasedon't go to tearing your clothes for the fun of it--this winter atleast--as we have no time to mend them, while we are working for thebrave soldiers. "After we are at peace, and all happy and comfortable, let's have agrand tearing time together--because we shall be so glad. I promise thatyou shall tear me into three-cornered pieces, or any other shape youlike, when that happy time comes; but now, my darlings, we must wear ourold clothes, and save our money to buy comforts for the defenders of theflag. That's my opinion. What's yours? Please let me know in yourlongest words, and see if I don't print them in a book some of thesedays. That's all. " LITTLE SALLIE'S LONG WORDS: A TRUE STORY. One day little Sallie's mother was very ill indeed; she was lying on thebed with a bandage dipped in ice water around her head, for her head wasthrobbing and aching as if it were made entirely of double rows ofteeth, every one of them afflicted with a jumping, raging toothache, and her little daughter felt so sorry for her, that she beggedpermission to go to a shop and buy her a new head. Sallie was an only child; she played little with other children, and shewas so accustomed to being constantly with her father and mother, andother grown persons, that she talked in a very amusing and funnyfashion, for she would use very long words, perfectly understandingtheir meaning, but with such comically strange jumblings and twistings, and alterings of syllables, as to make it very difficult to preserve abecoming gravity while listening to her. If you laughed, the fun was allover, for Sallie would turn as red as a whole box of wafers; all thedimples in her face would take French leave, and you could almost havedeclared there was a bonfire lighted up in each of her eyes; but thisonly lasted a moment, for she was a sweet-tempered, affectionate littlecreature, and got over being laughed at as quick as possible, which is agreat deal quicker than you or I would have done. "Dear mamma, " said Sallie, her face perfectly beaming with tendernessand sympathy; "dear mamma, what a terrible pain you are in; it is really_overpalling_! It's very _instraordinary_ that you should have such ahead. I can feel the beating! I wish you could sell it to the drummerof a _regimen_, and buy a new one; I wish I could give you mine, mamma;mine is perfectly empty; not a speck of pain, or anything else, in it, and it would last just so, as long as you live, and ever so much longer. It is so _destressing_ to have a head so brimful of _sufferling_;" andlittle Sallie looked as grieved as cock-robin's wife when he was killedby the sparrow, with his bow and arrow. "My dear dove and darling, " said her mother, "I know you would giveyour head and shoulders, and all your new shoes, to make me well, butyou can do nothing but keep perfectly quiet, as still as a mouse withthe lock-jaw. As the Frenchman says, you must 'take hold of your tongue, and put your toe on your mouth;'--he meant finger, I suppose. You neednot leave the room, my little Sallie, only do not make any noise. " [Illustration: "Play softly, Kitty; your Mamma is very undisposed. "] So Sallie sat down very quietly on the carpet with her kitten, onlywhispering once in a while, "Play softly, kitty, for your mamma is very_undisposed_. " Just at this moment another little girl came darting like a sunbeam intothe room. It was Fanny. Fanny was Sallie's cousin; she was a dear littleweeny woman of seven years, with a lily-white skin, hazel eyes, and asweet, musical voice, and she ran up to Sallie with such a gentle, song-like salutation, you would have supposed it was a bob-o-link, saying, "How do you do?" Let me tell you, if you have never heard abob-o-link, its few low notes are deliciously sweet, and are onlysurpassed by the sweet voice of a good little girl. Fanny had come to spend the day with Sallie. She was about a year olderthan her cousin; she had the same amiable, affectionate ways, and usedalmost as many long words, so they got on together famously. It was raining a little, and Fanny said the mud in the streets was very_stickery_, and she had hard work to keep her boots clean. "I declare, "she continued, "such very dirty streets are only fit for _esquarians_. " "_Esquarians!_" said Sallie, "what kind of an animal is that? Pigs?" "My patience!" said Fanny, "did you never hear of _esquarian_ exercise?I take it every day at Mr. Disbrow's. It is riding on horseback. " "Oh!" said Sallie, rubbing her chin, "of course. I was a perfect goosenot to know that. I wish, when the streets are muddy, we could fly likebirds through the air: how pleasant it must be to be dangling in theair, with nothing to do but stare at the sun! I would not come down fora week. Just fancy! what perfect happiness!" "And no lessons to learn, " said Fanny. "Now, there's grammar--I hate itlike pepper, and the hard words in the dictionary nearly _discolates_my jaw. You ought to be thankful, Sallie, that you don't go to school;for my part, I am always glad when '_chatterday_' comes, as you callit. " Sallie knew better than that, but she called Saturday chatterday, because Fanny almost always spent that day with her, and they chatteredso much you would hardly believe but what they had breakfasted on two orthree dictionaries apiece, and each word was undergoing digestion. "I think I should like to go to Mr. Abbott's school, " said Sallie;"mamma says that they have an _intermittent_ of five minutes in everyhour. Only think! you can talk to everybody, or walk with anybody, orput your head in your desk, or eat candy, or drink water all the time, or never stop laughing, or anything else you please till the fiveminutes are over. That's the school for me. I should think he wouldhave a million of scholars. I am sure if I studied all the time, my headwould be cracked in a week. Why, Fanny, I tried to say the alphabetbackward the other evening, and it _fatwigged_ me so I had to go tobed. " Here Sallie's mother gave a little laugh, which was instantly changedinto a smothered groan, for the laughing hurt her head, that it seemedas if a whole regiment of dragoons was galloping through her brain; butthe long words and the wrong words sounded so funny, and the childrenacted and talked so much like two old ladies over a cup of tea, it wasnot human nature to keep from being amused; and, in fact, their comicalprattle acted like a fairy talisman or distant music; it soothed her, and made her in a measure forget her pain. Sallie heard only the groan, and coming softly to the bed, shewhispered: "Dear mamma, did we talk too loud? I meant to be as moute asa muce. I mean as mute as a mouse. " Her mother laughed again at this funny mistake; she could not help it, and Sallie laughed too, and said, "That was a mistake, you know; I had akink in my tongue; I do believe it must have been twisted like acorkscrew. It is all right now, isn't it, mamma?" and Sallie ran hertongue out till you could nearly see the roots, and it seemed quitewonderful where she kept it all, and that it did not get worn out withall the hard work and exercise she gave it; but I suppose some people'stongues are like dogs' tails, they like to show how happy they are bykeeping up a continual wagging. "Shall we go into the next room and play there?" asked Sallie; "we willbe so still you will think the very chairs and tables are taking a nap;we will be like the mummies in the _cats' combs_, and I should likevery much to know what a _cats' comb_ is, and how a mummy can be buriedin it. " "You mean _cacatombs_, " laughed little Fanny. "Papa says they are eithertaverns or caverns--I forget which he said--in Egypt, where they burythe mummies. " "You must call it _catacombs_, my dear little girls; they are largecaverns, not taverns: a mummy in a tavern would frighten all the idlersand ragamuffins out of it. I don't know but what it would be a goodplan, but you two dear little twisters and turners of the king's Englishwould frighten that cranky old fellow, Dr. Johnson, into a longsickness, if he was only alive and could hear you. I love to hear youtalk; it does me good. Don't go out of the room, but take that pack ofcards I gave you to play with, and sit down on the floor and build cardhouses. " The children thought this a capital idea. Down they sat in great glee, and immediately commenced the business of building houses, their eyesnearly starting out of their heads, in their anxiety to make housesthree stories high; but, spite of all their efforts, the moment theyattempted the third story, down would come all the cards with a flop, leaving the builders with a long-sounding O--h, to stare at the ruins. "The fact is, " said Sallie, looking so wise and solemn you would havethought she was an owl's granddaughter, at least, "the fact is, there isone _peculiarrarity_ about card houses. " "What's that?" asked Fanny, pursing up her mouth and trying to look asif she knew already. "Why, I'll tell you, " answered Sallie, taking a long breath for theprodigious long word that was coming, "if you ever expect to build cardhouses, or cocked hats, or steamboats, you must go to work_systimystiattically_. " "That's not the word, " said Fanny, looking as dignified as ten judges;"that's not the word at all, Sallie. " "What is it, then?" said Sallie, shutting one eye, and looking very hardat Fanny with the other. "_Sister Mister Macalley!_ There! don't I know?" "My dear child, " answered Sallie, with a patronizing air, and her headon one side, "you are right. It is _Sister Mister Macalley_; I onlysaid _systimystiattically_ for fun, you know--just for fun and fancy, old Aunt Nancy. " And the little girls laughed merrily, and thought it acapital joke. Sallie's mother had to laugh too, until she was almost killed, at thislast sally. She did not wonder that the long word "_systematically_" hadproved one too many for the children; she expected, the next thing, tohear of "indivisibility, " or "incompatibility, " or something twice aslong, if possible; but, at any rate, the laughing or something else didher so much good that she felt well enough to get up and drink a cup oftea and eat a piece of dry toast, while the little girls were havingtheir luncheon, and desperate were the efforts she was obliged to make, to keep from laughing at the speeches they made over the meal. They weretwenty times more amusing than the heavy, long-winded jokes with whichaldermen, and other big bugs entertain each other for hours at thegreat public dinners, where they are obliged to give each other the winkto let every one know _where the laugh ought to come in_. No! it wasjust one little, rollicking, chuckling laugh all lunch time; and howthey managed to make so much bread and butter and raspberry jamdisappear, I am sure I cannot tell. Sallie lived in the city of New York, in Eleventh street, very nearBroadway. Directly round the corner was Mrs. Wagner's ice cream saloon, or, as Sallie called it, "Mrs. Waggles. " In the afternoon her mother said she and Fanny might go, by themselves, to this saloon, and buy each a treat of six-pence worth of ice cream. The children were in a perfect ecstasy of delight at this announcement;their faces were radiant with good humor and happiness. Only to think ofit! what grandeur! to go all by themselves! that was the great point!not a cousin, or a grandmother, or even a nurse to take care of them;and they scrabbled up on all the chairs, and jumped down again, andtwirled round and round till Sallie's mother said it was fortunate theirheads, and arms, and legs were all fastened together very strong, orthey would long ago have been whirled off their bodies, and out of thewindows. I wish you could have seen Sallie having her hair curled that afternoon. Her mother would be in the act of laying a curl gracefully over oneear, when Sallie's head would bob suddenly round, and the curl would beplanted right between her eyes, making her squint dreadfully; and when acurl was to repose on her temple, Sallie would bob the other way, andthe curl would be landed on the back of her head, the end sticking uplike a horn. She _did_ try, but who could keep still, on such adelightful occasion, when they were going to walk about the world justlike grown people, with their money in their pockets! Sallie even wantedher mother to lend her a lace veil, and her gold watch, to add to herdignity--"so as to come home in time for tea, you know, mamma;" but hermother concluded, as Sallie could not tell the time by the watch, thenecessity for carrying it was rather doubtful. And after considerabletumbling and popping around like fire-crackers, and making cheeses andwhirligigs, and chattering like a whole army of magpies, the childrenwere dressed, at last, and sent on their way rejoicing. When they got into the street, they took hold of each other's hands _andran all the way_, as an inevitable matter of course, and arrived at theice cream saloon in a laughing, breathless condition, so very littlelike grown people that I am afraid they must have forgotten theirdignity, or left it locked up in the bookcase at home. They took their seats at one of the marble tables, and with very largeeyes and innumerable giggles gave their order, and then there neverbefore was such splendid ice cream! It was so cold, they really had toblow it, and they had to stop a great many times to laugh, and to wonderwhat the other people thought of them; at any rate, everybody wouldthink they were "_instraordinary_" good girls to be allowed to come outall by themselves. "Only imagine, " continued Sallie, "perhaps, after this, we shall be_considit_ such excellent children--kind of oldey and serious, youknow--that mamma will pack up our trunks, and let us go eleventeen timesfarther than this. How perfectly delightful! to go in every direction atonce, and rush all round the world like the _comic_ papa told me of theother day;" and Sallie became so excited with this brilliant prospectthat she jumped up and down, and gave a little scream of joy. "What's all that noise?" said a queer, discordant voice at the fartherend of the saloon. The children started, and looked back a little frightened; theircharming castles in the air put to flight, "like the baseless fabric ofa vision, " by the rough question which they thought had been aimed atthem. "Walk in, ladies! take a seat! What will you have? Shut up! G-o-o-dmorning!" The words sounded as if they had been rubbed through a nutmeg grater. "Take a piece of pie? don't forget to pay for it! Shut up! Call again!I'm all right! Hurra!" And the parrot--for it _was_ a large and handsomeparrot--hopped upon a chair, from the floor where he had been struttingabout, and looked at the company with eyes as sharp as a carving-knife. Fanny and Sallie, by this time, had found out that it was a bird thatwas talking to them, and not cross old Mr. Grumpy, as they had at firstsupposed, who, always being in an ill humor himself, never could bear tosee any one looking happy. They walked up to where the bird was, andstood there lost in admiration at his accomplishments; and really he wasa very wonderful bird, and sometimes talked as if he understood what hewas saying, which, between you and me, is what some birds, boobies forinstance, cannot do. While they were standing there as still as could be expected, for theyhad to give a little skip now and then, under such remarkablecircumstances, a nurse came up with a very beautiful baby in her arms, and two young gentlemen also drew near to listen to the parrot. As soonas Poll saw the baby, he yelled out: "Sweet little baby! sweet littlebaby! G-o-o-d morning, little baby! Is it a girl?" The nurse, who was a very silly-looking goose of a girl, turned very redat this question, and, dropping a courtesy to Poll, simpered out: "No, sir; if yez plaze, sir, it's a boy, sir!" A roar of laughter from allaround followed this answer, and the poor girl looked as if she thoughtthe parrot was a police officer, in a bright-green great coat, who meantto put her instantly to death for daring to answer him. She concludedshe had better run for her life, which she accordingly did, stumblingagainst all the tables, and breaking her toes over every chair; but shedisappeared at last, the parrot shrieking most horribly after her, andall the people laughing till their sides ached. With many a lingering, admiring glance at their funny new friend, thechildren at last left the enchanting saloon, and hastened home to tellof all the wonderful things they had seen and heard; both talking, exclaiming, and laughing at once, until it would have taken at least sixmammas to have heard it all. When Sallie's father came home, of course he had to hear how they wentout, "just like two old women, very independent, and eat a poll parrotand heard an ice cream, " at which he was greatly astonished until theyexplained that it was the ice cream they had eaten, and the poll parrotthey had heard. Soon after tea, Fanny was sent for, and after many attempts, her bonnetand pretty little white Marseilles cloak were fastened, for she jumped, and Sallie jumped during the operation, till you would have thought theywere pith witches, only they fortunately kept on their feet; afterwardthey kissed each other jumping, and the kisses lighted on the very endsof their noses, and Sallie ran to the corner with her, and bade hergood-by, and ran back to her mother, who was standing at the door, andran into the parlor and all round it with such a hop-skip-and-jump, thather mother thought the mayor of the city, if he only could see her, would be wanting to hire her for a lamplighter. At last the time came for Sallie to go to bed, and she was undressedwith plenty more laughing and jumping, but her dear little face grewsober and sweetly serious when she said her prayers, and in this hermother was very particular: not a word was mispronounced; and everysyllable was distinctly repeated until the little girl knew them allcorrectly, and what was more, understood them, and it was a beautifulsight to see the little one's clasped hands and innocent face when sheasked God to bless all her relatives and friends, and make her a goodchild. Sallie's mother, that evening, seemed to want a great many things outof the nursery; she was continually coming in with a light, and lookingfor her pocket handkerchief, or thimble, or a book. At last Sallie grew quite impatient at these disturbances; she sat upstraight in her little crib, and in a plaintive tone, said, "Dear mamma, why do you come in so often with a light? you _invaluably_ wake me upwhen you do. " Her mother rushed out of the room, light and all, to have a laugh overthe long word "invariably, " which her little Sallie had heard somewhere, and altered so comically, then returning, she kissed the little rosycheek, and said she really would not disturb her again if she wantedanything ever so much; and with a kiss on the other cheek, as Salliesaid, to make it "_valance_, " she bade her good night. THE NEW LITTLE FRIEND. "Oh! here is something from Aunt Fanny, which looks extremelyinteresting, " said the little mother one evening. "Read it, do, please!" cried the children with sparkling eyes. "We willwork at our mittens harder than ever, for anything so very nice. " So the kind mother began as follows: * * * * * MY DEAR CHILDREN-- I must tell you what happened to me this morning--not for the firsttime, to be sure; but as it always makes me just as happy, I might aswell call them all "first times. " I was very busy writing a ridiculous story for you about the HonorableMr. Kite, when a barouche full of ladies drove up to the door. As I wassitting at the window, I could see them getting out. With them was alovely little girl. "Oh!" said I to Sarah, my daughter, "what a darling little child iscoming here! I never saw her or the ladies before, and I am afraid theyhave stopped at the wrong house. " But the front door bell rang, and a moment after the servant handed metwo cards. One was quite large and almost square. It had the name of alady upon it. The other was such a dear little card that I must give youthe exact pattern. Here it is-- [Illustration: Miss Annie Louisa Beckwith] name and all; and when Maria handed it to me, she said, "Oh, ma'am! ifyou could only see what a sweet little girl is down stairs! She tookthis card out of a silver card case of about the same size as this, andshe smiled and skipped into the house as if she was _so_ pleased!" You may be sure I was not long in going down to the parlor. I had hardlygot in the door when two little arms were round me, and a sweet voicesaid, "Aunt Fanny;" and when I stooped down, I think I got at leasttwenty kisses. Then one of the ladies took my hand, and told me how herlittle daughter loved me, and, above all, loved "Lame Charley, " becauseshe, like him, had been very ill for a long time, and his patience andsweetness had helped _her_ to be patient and sweet. "But my darling isbetter now, " she continued; "and when we came to New York, she begged meto bring her to see you. " I came very near crying. A thankful prayer rose in my heart, that Godhad permitted me to add to the happiness of this little one, whosepale, delicate face showed that she had passed through much suffering. It does grieve me so, to know that children must sometimes spend hoursand days in pain! And I stooped again and kissed this tender littleblossom, and felt sure, as I looked at the soft, loving expression ofher large dark eyes, that Jesus, our Saviour and Friend, had loved andcomforted her all through her illness. The other lady was her aunt--a gentle, lovely person, for whom I seemedto feel an affection at once: indeed, we all talked together like oldfriends, and I could hardly bear to have them go away. I had a strangefeeling, as if I must have known them all before, in some far off time. The mother's voice especially had a charming, cordial tone, which Ishall always remember. They could not stay very long, they said, because they had left a ladyin the carriage who was an invalid. Then I wanted to run out and bringher in; but they said they must go; and my dear little new friend leftme, with kisses, and promises to come some time and see me again. This visit put me in mind of a story about little Annie, which I meantto have told you before. If you will please to forgive me, I will tellit to you now. I shall call it "Ilken Annie, " because that is her ownname for herself. By "ilken" she means "little. " ILKEN ANNIE. Ilken Annie lives in a beautiful house on Staten Island. Her mamma and Iare great friends, and we have had plenty of pleasant fun together. Nearthe house is a lovely little lake, shaped exactly like the figure"eight" turned sideways, so: [symbol]. It has a cunning little bridge inthe narrowest part, across which a whole regiment of dolls couldmarch--and you and I, too, for that matter. It is so small and pretty, that I do believe you and I could catch gold fish out of it. I havelooked very hard in it to find a mermaid, which, you know, is a ladywith no feet: instead of those, she has a fish's tail. I wonder how onewould taste boiled; for she is only a fish, after all, like the seahorses which swim about in the aquarium at Barnum's Museum. If Annie andI ever catch a mermaid in this beautiful lake, we will be sure to tellyou all about it. Near by is a grand old oak tree, standing alone and majestic, like aking on his throne; and a lovely flower garden, at the side of thehouse, is so bright in colors that one would suppose a company ofrainbows had gone to housekeeping there. In the middle of this garden there stands, day and night, a beautifulyoung lady, in a round straw hat; but I wouldn't kiss her for a dollar!for her cheeks, as well as all the rest of her, are as white as chalkand as hard as a stone. I dare say her heart is too, if she happens tohave any. Who wants to kiss stone people? I'd rather kiss _you_, andilken Annie, and that other sweet little Annie who came to see me. Ilken Annie, when she was about four years old, was one pleasant daysitting in her chair by the window, knitting a little white garter--thatis, she was learning to knit one. "Oh my, " she said, "the stitch is so naughty! It is running away! Whatshall I do?" You see, there were five stitches on the knitting needle, and Annie'slittle fat fingers had hard work to keep them there. So her kind mamma showed her very carefully how to pull a stitch throughwith the other needle, before it had time to be off on its travels; andthe dear little child, with a bright smile, kissed her mother, and said, "It is all tight now; oh, how glad I am!" And she put out her chubbylittle leg to try how much larger that celebrated stitch had made thegarter. Presently she cried out again, "Oh, mamma, here's a stitch all _climbed_up, and another all rolled down; and one is so little I can't see hiseye to poke the needle through. Oh, what a bad children!" Her mother laughed at this funny speech, and said pleasantly, "'Try, tryagain, ' ilken Annie. " Then she pulled and twitched at the "badchildren-stitches;" and once more Annie sat down to knit, singing, witha pretty little bird's note-- "'Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try again; If at first you don't succeed, Try, try again. " Of course you know all of this pretty little song, don't you? Just singit now. By and by the little girl and her mother went down to luncheon; andthere, on the table, were such lots of nice cream and raspberries, andwhite home-made bread! Oh! how I wish all the darling children in theworld could have such a delicious lunch--so much better for them thanpies or a whole bushel of sugar candy. When this nice lunch was over, Annie's mother said, "My little darling, I am going to New York to buy a chest of tea, and hire a cook, besidestaking a trunk which belongs to a friend. You must keep house for me, dear; and if any company comes, behave very politely to them, and takeoff their bonnets, and talk to them, and ask them to stay till I comehome. " "So ilken Annie will, mamma, " she answered; "but I'll tell them theymustn't pull off their shoes and stockings and paddle in the lake, saying, 'quack, ' and making believe they are a duck, like brother did. I'll tell them that's naughty, won't I?" "Yes, " said the good mamma, laughing, "tell them what brother did. Thatwill amuse them very much, dear; and when I come home, I will give you adozen kisses and a pretty new book. " Oh, how Annie's blue eyes sparkled at this! for, would you believe it, she could read! Yes, read! and only four years old! It did not seem tohave hurt her; for she was just as round, and plump, and rosy aspossible. She learned her letters, nobody knows how--from the tops ofnewspapers; and the reading came so easy, that instead of having tolearn in that pretty little school book called, "Reading without tears, "Annie seemed always to have on a ticklesome apron, which turned all herlessons into "reading with laughing;" and it was such a funny business, and Annie grew so fat and bright under it, that her mother did not feelworried; but I advise all the rest of you, little darlings, if you don'tlike learning to read quite as well as bread and butter and raspberryjam, to put it off till your dear little heads and bodies have had atleast two years more of play, and frolic, and tumbling about likekittens. You like that advice, don't you? So Annie helped her mother to dress. She ran to the closet, brought outa green bandbox, and raising the cover, lifted up her mother's bonnet;then she opened one of the bureau drawers, and got her a pair of new kidgloves, and shut the drawer again. "Oh!" cried she, with a littlelaugh, "I forgot to take out a clean hankfun--too bad!" By this funnyword she meant "pocket handkerchief. " So she ran back to the bureau, opened the drawer, and took a "hankfun"from a pile in the corner; and then her mother was quite ready. Annie felt a little bit like crying when her mamma kissed her forgood-by. She was such a little thing, you see--only four years old. Youdon't want your mamma to go away either, do you? you precious littlerose, pink, bluebell, daisy! But ilken Annie tried to look pleasant, and that is a famous way to _be_pleasant. The carriage was just driving away, when the little girl remembered thather mother had not taken a shawl. It might be quite cool by theafternoon; so she ran quickly up stairs, got a plaid shawl, and Harry, one of her brothers, who is a right handsome little fellow, and as goodas he is handsome, ran to the carriage with it; and then kissed his handand raised his cap to his mamma for good-by; while Archie, the coachman, was looking on in great admiration. [Illustration: Harry giving the Shawl to his Mother. ] Then he drove away with her, down to the Hunchback, at the landing, which was to take her to New York. Now, don't you think, you fanny darling, that the "Hunchback" was an oldman with a great lump on his shoulders; and Annie's mother was to takea seat on the top of it; and then the old man would swim to New Yorkwith her. Not a bit of it! The Hunchback was only an ugly old steamboat, which was all hunched up in the middle; and scratched through the waterlike a great crab trying to dance the polka. Annie sat down and began to knit a little. While she was knitting, she said this funny thing, which Eliza, thenurse, had taught her. See if you can say it: "Little Kitty Kickshaw knotted and knitted for her kith and kinsfolk inher kinsman's kitchen. "This knotting and knitting by little Kitty Kickshaw, in her kinsman'skitchen, kept her kinsfolk. "So come and kiss kind little Kitty Kickshaw, for keeping her kith andkinsfolk by knotting and knitting in her kinsman's kitchen. " Pretty soon, down dropped a stitch off the needle. "O--h, " said Annie, "too bad! I must put it away till mamma comes home. "So she opened a drawer in the table and laid her knitting down. Then sheput on a nice little pink sun bonnet, and ran out into the garden topick some flowers. The stone young lady smiled at her; but as she couldnot speak or run, Annie did not care a speck for her: she thought agreat deal more of the good little dog dozing on the mat before thedoor. Pretty soon the dog, whose name was Grip, woke up, shook himself, andran after her to have a frolic, for he was always ready for that; andAnnie and he raced around, till her sun-bonnet fell off. Then she satdown under the grand old oak tree, and had a real nice talk with Grip, who ran out his tongue, and wagged his tail, and looked as wise asSolomon. He was just listening very attentively to a story about the beautifulnew house her papa had had built for the ducks to live in, when therecame a sound like the crunching of wheels on the gravelled road; and ina twinkling he cocked up his ears, and, without waiting for the end ofthe story, ran off barking, to see who had arrived. I think he was veryimpolite; don't you? Then Annie got up and ran too, saying to herself, "Why! I wonder if dearmamma has come back. " [Illustration: Ilken Annie talking to Grip. ] No; it was not her mother's carriage. It was another one; and it soonwhirled round the sweep, and stopped at the door. "Oh, my, " said Annie, "that is the company. I must go and help her out. Why, grandmamma!" she exclaimed, "dear grandmamma, is that you?" "Yes, little darling, " said a pleasant voice; and a tall, beautiful ladystepped from the carriage, and lifting Annie in her arms, gave her agood kissing. "Oh, grandmamma, I'm so glad. I am the house-_keeping_; and I must bevery polite and kind to you. Come in, grandmamma, and let me take offyour hat. " The lady sat down in the parlor, smiling at the sweet little child, andlet her untie her bonnet with her small fat fingers. It took quite along time, for Annie could not get the right ribbon to pull; but hergrandmamma never said "hurry, " but let the little one do just as shepleased. "Mamma has gone to New York, grandma, " said Annie, "to buy a cook andhire a chest of tea. " "Buy a cook?" asked her grandma, laughing. "Oh, yes, grandma, " said Annie, quite serious; "she told me so. " "_Hire_ a cook and _buy_ the tea. Isn't that it, darling?" "O--h, _yes_, grandma! I made a mistake, didn't I?" They both laughed merrily, and then Annie, sitting in her own tinychair, put one little fat hand over the other, and began to think. She looked up at her kind, beautiful grandma, with such a serious pairof blue eyes, that the good lady came near laughing; but she sat quitestill, to see what Annie would do or say next. She loved the little girldearly. You see, Annie was such a loving, obedient little child, that she wasanxious to do just what her mother told her; and she was thinking ofthe best way to be kind to the company. Suddenly her blue eyes brightened, as if she had got hold of adelightful thought; and looking up, with the expression of an angel, inher grandmother's face, she said, in her sweet little voice, "Grandma, shall I read the Bible to you?"[A] [Footnote A: A fact. ] "Oh, the precious child!" Truly, "of such is the kingdom of heaven. " Her grandmother's eyes filled with happy tears as she said, "Yes, darling;" and ilken Annie, getting her own pretty Bible, read about goodlittle Samuel to her grandmother. Then she got into her lap, and sang her ever so many little songs; andlet me tell you, that anybody would have wished to be a grandmotherright away, if they could have had such a delightful time as Annie'sgrandmother did. I'm sure I do. And when the dear mamma came home, and heard all that her sweet littlechild had done, she took her in her arms and fondly kissed her, andprayed God in her heart that He would make her "ilken" Annie always asgood and lovely as she was then. I am almost certain she will be; for agood child will be sure to become a good woman or man. So take care, little darlings, to be better than ever you were before; and above all, _obedient_ to your parents. Not long after this, a great event happened at Annie's house. You mustknow that she had no less than five loving brothers; all older thanherself. Quite a lot of them, isn't there? And their mother let themhave all manner of innocent fun and frolic; because she was one of thevery best mothers in the world, and knew that children ought to be madenot only as _good_, but as _happy as possible_. So, lo and behold!everybody and his wife, and I too, were invited to a splendid concertat Annie's house. The best of it was, that the concert was to be just like Christy'sminstrels; and the boys, and some of their friends who were to help, hadbought the most splendid black woolly wigs; and were going to have theirfaces made very nearly as black as ink. I tell you what it is! I wasjust as full of the fun of it as I could hold; and I went directly to ajeweller I knew, and got him to lend me several breastpins, with suchbig make-believe diamonds in them, that they almost put your eyes outshining. These the boys wore in their ruffled shirts; and they were_such_ dandies! oh my, what dandies they were! You must know, at a _real_ concert, the people throw beautiful flowersto the singers that please them most. Annie and I got up an immensebouquet, about the size of a peck measure, without telling anybody aword about it; and saved it up, to throw _at_ one of the "coloredgemmen. " The evening came, and was warm and clear; little Alice and the"Doctor, "[B] my two children and I went early. As we drove in at thegate it looked like fairy land; for, hanging to the trees in everydirection, were beautiful colored Chinese lanterns; the long windingdrive to the house was all a-light with them. [Footnote B: Sarah is called the "Doctor. "] A band of music was playing on the wide piazza; and as we entered, everybody was presented with a beautiful red, white, or blue paper fan. Wasn't it splendid? How little Annie's eyes did sparkle! _they_ were like real diamonds, andfar more precious. She nestled down in a seat close to me, and togetherwe enjoyed all the comical songs and funny jokes of the minstrels. You don't know how queer their black wigs looked! and they kept Annieand me laughing all the time, with rolling their eyes, making funnyfaces, and telling conundrums. Presently Willie, one of Annie's brothers, who played the bones, calledout to Robert, a neighbor's son, who was banging the tamborine on hishead and his elbow, and his knee and his foot, as fast and as hard as hecould. "Mister Julius. " "What dat you want, Mister Snow?" "You know dat ar ole saw you lent me, Mister Julius, to saw dedictionary in two, so to gib you half?" "Yes, sar, I know him very well, sar. " "Well, sar, dat ar saw, sar, he wort nottin, sar! Ob all de saws dat Iebber saw saw, I nebber saw a saw saw as dat ar saw saws! He! ho!" "I don't see dat ar saw, sar; but I want to ax you a question. " "Berry well; succeed. " "When de day breaks, what becomes ob de pieces?" "I--I--don't 'xactly know, sar. Trow em in de ash barrel?" "No, sar! dey jes let em alone. He! ho!" Then another brother got up, and made such a low bow that his black wigtumbled over his eyes, showing his brown hair behind. He poked it backagain, and began to sing this--all the rest playing on fiddles, bones, and triangles, as hard as they could: "Come, brothers, now unite with us, and join us, one and all, The Stars and Stripes shall not come down, shall never, never fall: We've got two splendid captains, to their country ever true; McClellan, and great Winfield Scott, and the Red, White, and Blue. _Chorus. _ "Then hurrah for the Union, Hurrah for the Union, Hurrah for the Union, And the Red, White, and Blue. " "Ah! now's the time for the bouquet!" I whispered to Annie; and I tookit out from under the seat, and threw it as hard as I could. The littledog who lived with Annie, thought I did it for him to catch. He bouncedupon the stage, barking and wagging his tail till he nearly wagged itoff; and seized the bouquet, while Annie's brother tried to get it away;and they chased each other up and down the room, the minstrels and thecompany all laughing ready to kill themselves. What fun it was! At last Annie's brother got about a quarter of the flowers away from thedog; and then he put his hand on his heart, and made a bow lower thanthe first; and Annie was afraid he had almost broken the bone in hisback. After this funny concert was over, the musicians, who had been sent forfrom New York, began to play dancing tunes; and all the company wentinto another large parlor, and commenced to dance; while Annie'sbrothers and their friends got scrubbing brushes, and soap, and hotwater, and scrubbed and rubbed, and scrubbed and rubbed, till theynearly scrubbed the noses off their faces; but it was not very longbefore they came in, looking as white and clean as could be; only Anniethought they had made a great mistake--taking out their splendidbreastpins. She said, "Why, Aunt Fanny, those breastpins are so _brightybright!_ oh, how I wish I had one! Don't you?" "Yes, dear, " I answered; "and I will go and ask the jeweller to give meone for you to keep. You shall choose it yourself. " This was delightful! and Annie and I danced and laughed, and had someice cream in a snug little corner together; and she sat up ever so late, without wanting to shut her blue eyes once; and when the company wentaway they kissed Annie, and shook hands with the handsome, gentlemanlylittle boys, and thanked them for their nice, funny concert. I don'tknow but what some of them kissed one or two of the youngest of Annie'sbrothers. I did; but that's because I'm only Aunt Fanny, which makes adifference, you see. I'm so little, that half the time the childrenforget I am quite old. They catch hold of me, and make me play so hard, that I am afraid I shall never get to be a very mouldy old lady, sittingin a corner, with my head tied up in a flannel petticoat, to keep offthe draught. I'm afraid I shall always be frisky. What do _you_ thinkabout it, you little apple dumplings? Would you like to hear the rest about the breastpin? Well, I will tellyou. Annie chose the one with the great red stone in the middle and tenwhite ones all round it; and I went the very next day to the jeweller inNew York, and said: "See here, Mr. Jeweller, here are all your breastpins, and I am verymuch obliged to you; but I want you to _give_ me one, for a darling. " "What kind of a darling, Mrs. Aunt Fanny?" "Well, she is four years old, and has rosy cheeks, dark brown hair, large blue eyes, and a little dimpling, dainty mouth, full of smallwhite pearls. They are not set in gold, like the pearls in your glasscase. No, indeed! they grew fast in her dear little head; and she eatsbread and milk with them. "But let me tell you, Mr. Jeweller, that she has something far moreprecious than what I have been relating. Shut up in her innocent breastis a beautiful heart, which is full of love to all around her; and itgently whispers to her, 'Ilken Annie, be obedient to your parents, kindto everybody, and faithful in praying night and morning, to the dearSaviour, to watch over and protect His little lamb, and all she loves. 'Oh, Mr. Jeweller, you cannot find such a precious jewel as ilken Annie'sheart, in all your store. " Something came into the good jeweller's eyes, and fell upon his cheeks. They were two bright tears; and he softly said, "No; I have no suchtreasures here, and none now in my home; for, not long ago, God took myone little white lamb, my wee darling. She has gone to heaven, and myhouse is empty. " I felt very, very sorry for him--but I could not speak. He wrapped upthe breastpin in a piece of paper, and gave it to me for Annie; and Isent it to her with this fine poetry: My dear "ilken" Annie, Your loving Aunt Fanny Has got this fine breastpin On purpose for you; So that, when in town, With your new hat and gown, And this red and white breastpin, You'll be quite a view. Then the girls and the boys Will make a great noise, And cry, "Goody gracious! _What_ a breastpin! just see! 'Tis the color of roses! And real, I supposes; I wish your Aunt Fanny Would buy one for _me_. " Then you'll say, "But she can't, For she isn't _your_ aunt, But _my_ little auntie That lives down the lane; And I'm ilken Annie, So winsome and cannie, With my 'hankfun' and 'too bad!' 'And try, try again. ' "I have a dear māmma, And good and grave pāpa, And such a kind grandmamma, Gentle and sweet, And my three, four, five brothers, Like three, four, five mothers, To love me and tend me, And guide my young feet. " And now, little maiden, With so much love laden, I pray that to you May all "good gifts" be given; And happiness rare, Without shadow of care; And then--this life ended, Your home may be--HEAVEN. And so ilken Annie got her breastpin from me; and I received in returnsome kisses from her; and I think I had the best of the bargain. Andwhat is more--I do believe, if you will go down to Staten Island andcall upon her, she will show you the garters, which must be finished bythis time; and the breastpin, if it isn't lost; and the poetry; andGrip, the dog; and the stone young lady in the garden; and the cunninglittle bridge; and ever so many dimples in her sweet face; and be _so_kind to you! Perhaps she will say, "Shall I read the Bible to you. "Wouldn't that be lovely? Come! let's you and I go down together, thisvery minute! Oh, dear me! I quite forgot that the boats don't run in theevening. Never mind! we'll go some other time. Till then, don't quite forget Your loving AUNT FANNY. * * * * * When the reading of these little stories was finished, it was found thattwelve more pairs of nice warm mittens were ready for our bravesoldiers; and the Little Mother sent them to George, with so much love, and so many prayers for his welfare, and the safety of hiscomrades--that it did seem as if God's blessing would rest upon everysoldier who wore them. And now, little darling, reading this, or having a kind mamma or friendto read it to you--won't you pray for the soldiers? Will you say thislittle prayer to-night: "O my Heavenly Father: Please watch over all the soldiers. Send Thy HolySpirit into their leaders: then love and peace will surely come; andthere will be no more of this dreadful war. I pray for this, in the nameof Jesus, my dear Saviour. Amen. " END OF THE SECOND BOOK.