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LITTLE SUSY'S
LITTLE SERVANTS.
BY MRS. E. PRENTISS,
AUTHOR OF "LITTLE SUSY'S SIX TEACHERS," "SIX BIRTHDAYS," "THE FLOWER OF
THE FAMILY," ETC., ETC.
_FIRST SERIES._
NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY,
38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET.
COPYRIGHT, 1856 AND 1883,
BY
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY.
[Illustration]
LITTLE SUSY'S LITTLE SERVANTS.
CHAPTER I.
As Little Susy had a kind mamma to take care of her, you will, perhaps,
wonder why God gave her also, a great many servants of her own. He gave
her so many, that you might spend your whole life in reading about them.
But I shall tell you of only a very few, and then you can ask your
mamma to talk to you about the others. For the little servants Susy had,
you have, too.
At first she did not know what they were for, or where they were. They
did not know, either, and so they were useless. Two of them were black,
and so much alike that you could not tell one from the other. Susy kept
them shut up most of the time, so that nobody could see them. When her
aunts and cousins came to see Susy, they would say: "I should think she
might let _us_ see them!" and would go away quite disappointed. These
black servants were bright little things, and they soon learned to amuse
Susy a great deal. One of the first things they did for her was to let
her see the fire; and that she thought very beautiful.
Susy had another pair of twins for her servants, who knew so little
what they were for, that they used to slap and scratch her face. Her
mamma said she should have to tie them up if they did so. Indeed, many a
little baby has had them all covered up with white rags, to keep them
from doing mischief before they were old enough to know better. But
though they did not know how to behave, they were very pretty, tiny
little things, and when Susy's papa knelt down and took one of them on
his hand, and kissed it, and wondered at it, and said what a funny wee
morsel it was, why, it looked, to be sure, like a pretty rose-leaf, or
any thing else soft, and pink, you can think of.
Susy had another pair of twins, that she took no notice of for some
months. They did not learn how to wait upon her so soon as some of the
others did. They were restless little fat things, seldom still a
moment, and about all they knew was how to kick holes in blue and white
socks.
Susy had still another pair of twins, not very pretty, but very useful,
for without them she never could have heard her mamma sing, or her papa
whistle; or the shovel and tongs fall down and make such a charming
noise; nor the pussy-cat say 'mew!' nor the doggy say 'bow wow!'
She had one more little servant that she kept out of sight all the
time. All it was good for at first, was to help her get a great many
breakfasts, and dinners, and suppers every day. But it became good for a
great deal more, after a while.
But if I go on in this way, I am afraid you will get puzzled, you are
such a little creature. So if you will guess the names of these servants
of Susy, I will give you three guesses. And if you do not guess right
the third time, you will have to peep into the glass, when you will see
most of your own; I mean those I have been talking about.