DEAR POSTMISTRESS,--A dear little friend of mine wishes me to send
you her history. Her name is Georgia Brand, and she is living with
her "adopted papa," as she calls him, at a military station in one
of our Western States. Little Georgia was found, rolled up in a
tattered old shawl, under a shrub somewhere in the wilds of
Colorado, with a paper pinned on her shawl, on which was written,
"Take good care of my darling child," and nothing more. The
soldiers who found her took her to the Colonel, who befriended the
child at first, and then adopted her. He named her for his native
State, Georgia, and gave her his last name, Brand. One day, when
her father was telling her of some scars he had gained during the
civil war, Georgia said, "See, papa, I have a scar too," and
stripping up her sleeve, she showed some marks near her shoulder,
which her father said looked like a brand. "Then," said little
Georgia, "I am not Georgia Brand, but branded Georgia." She is a
witty little thing, and the soldiers call her "the life of the
regiment." What the mark meant, and who her parents were, have
never been known; but she is very happy with her "adopted papa,"
who gives her every advantage. Even now her father says she can
sing and play better than any other little girl of ten.