Birdie and Jennie are two sweet little children.
Birdie has long light curls and soft hazel eyes, pale oval face,
and slender form. She is seven years old. Jennie, the little
sister, is chubby in face and form, has dark curls, and dark bright
eyes. Her cheeks are almost always red. She is five years old.
These two little sisters are very sweet singers, and once, when
they sang to entertain company, they were presented with a pair of
white mice.
These pets delighted the children, and for a time they enjoyed them
to their hearts' content; but mamma did not like white mice, and
longed to have them out of the house. Accordingly she talked to the
children, and urged them to let the treasures be sold.
This was a hard request, and the little ones were reluctant to
comply.
Mamma understood this, and to help them make the sacrifice she
promised to try to procure them something else in their place.
Birdie and Jennie loved their mice, but they loved mamma better,
and to please her they consented to let the mice go, and tried to
do it cheerfully.
It was on a Friday that the mice were taken away, and when Saturday
night came round, what should pop into the house but a cunning
little gray squirrel? This visitor made himself quite at home.
The delighted children knew not how to express their joy, and
firmly believed that God sent the squirrel to them so soon, because
they had parted pleasantly with their mice.
It was found that the squirrel belonged to a gentleman who lived
near by, and who said he was glad to be rid of the charge, and the
children were equally glad to have it. It is still living--a dear
little interesting pet.
As Birdie and Jennie live in the city, the squirrel's coming to
them so unexpectedly was even more strange than if their home had
been in the country.