I am a little girl who has owned a great many cats. I lost the
oldest one last November. His name was Mark Gray. He was fourteen
years and eight months old. The first word I ever said was to call
him "Tit-tat." Many persons said to me, "Anna, why don't you let
that poor old cat be shot?" But I could not let him meet that fate.
He had lost all his teeth, and I fed him on milk and biscuit till
he died. I have had a great many dolls, but my favorite is a large
one that Santa Claus brought me when I was three years old. I could
not then lift her. She has a china head, a cloth body, and red kid
gloves. I named her Lizzie M., for one of my young lady cousins,
and when she married I changed the doll's name to Mrs. B. I raised
twenty-four turkeys last year, and I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE
with part of my turkey money. I have twenty-three this year, nearly
all white. I like white turkeys best, because I can see them better
than those of any other color when they wander off to make a nest.
I have no brothers and sisters, but we have a little black girl who
plays with me and helps me to drive up my turkeys. They got wet
twice, and I thought they were dead, but we put them under the
stove, and they revived. I have a garden and a little pit. I have
five rose-bushes; one has blossoms no larger than my finger-nail. I
have a bed of sweet violets; they begin to bloom in February. I
have a lovely species of white asclepias that grows wild here; it
looks like wax. Mamma says if it had come from the Cape of Good
Hope, people would go wild about it. My pit is three feet square
and one and a half feet deep. I plant in it verbenas, feverfews,
Japan pinks, and rose cuttings. I cover it with boards, and when it
is very cold I put a rug on top. I kept my flowers safely last
winter, although it was so cold. This is November 7, and we have
not yet had any frost. The roses are as pretty as in spring-time,
and the garden is gay with zinnias and chrysanthemums.