My papa gave YOUNG PEOPLE to me for a birthday present when I was
ten years old, and now I am eleven, and he has sent for it again,
for we all think that we could not do without it. I have one sister
named Virginia, after mamma's native State, and we call her Virgie.
She is nine years old.
I have lots of pets. Our pigeons are so tame that they will eat out
of my hand or lap. We have two cats, named Tom and Dick, and they
are real cunning, but I can not tell all their tricks. It would
take too much space. Our dog Shep will beg for apples and melons to
eat. She comes into the house, and when pa plays the violin she
sings or howls, and the higher the notes he makes, the louder she
sings. Has anybody else a dog that can do that?
When we came to this farm, three years ago, we bought some hens. A
speckled one sat, and hatched out a flock of chickens, and what do
you think?--she tried to kill all but the black ones. Last summer
we had a white hen that acted the same way. Was it not strange?
Every spring since we have lived here papa has found, while
working, a number of grubs, dead and callous, and having
sprouts--some of them six inches long--growing out of where their
eyes had been. A gentleman explained it by saying that the worm was
infested with a vegetable parasite, which caused its death.
I have solved a number of puzzles, but never sent any to you. I
have been sick for two months, but am better now. We go a mile and
a half to school. Most of our school-mates are Quakers, and our
teachers are too. I should be so pleased if you would publish this
letter. Good-by.