GOING HOME
It was now autumn. The trees couldn't keep green any longer, for their
time had come; so they just made the best of it, like sad faces
laughing through tears, and glowed and flushed in a perfect blaze of
glory, making believe they were having splendid times all by
themselves, and didn't care for what was coming.
The Parlin children had stayed a great deal longer than their parents
at first meant they should stay, and now they must really go back to
Portland.
The little cousins were sorry to part, for you know they had learned
to love one another dearly. Grace and Susy clung together till the
last moment.
"O Susy," sobbed Grace, "don't you forget these good times! Remember
to write, no matter how it looks. I wish I hadn't got to go 'way off
out West. I never did have such times in any place as we've had here
at grandma's."
"Nor I either," said Susy, looking sorrowfully at the barn, the seat
in the trees, and the clover patch. "Remember, you're coming back in
just two years. Won't it be splendid?--O dear, but two years is 'most
forever!" added Susy, suddenly breaking down.
"Good by, Prudy," said Horace, climbing into the stage-coach, quite
out of breath. He had run all the way to the post office just for the
sake of seeing her again.
"Good by, Prudy. You're the cunningest little spud! If you lived out
West I'd just go a-flyin'."
Nobody knew whether Horace cried or not, for nobody saw him till
dinner time, but then he looked very sober indeed. He and Grasshopper
had been building a fort, he said; and after he had told so much, he
seemed not to care about talking. He felt captain of a little company,
and such a brave soldier that he would not even say he felt sorry
Prudy was gone.
Grace talked a great deal about Susy, and asked her mamma if she might
not invite her to go out West some time.
Mrs. Clifford said she should be very glad, indeed, to have a visit
from both the children, and who knew but it might happen so? for Mr.
Parlin, Susy's father, often took journeys out West on business.
This idea struck Grace very pleasantly, and she had a strong hope of
the visit in a minute. In two minutes she had a firm belief in it; and
the last we see of Grace and Horace in this book, they are sitting on
the piazza, eagerly talking about the next winter, when they shall
both go to the cars to meet uncle Edward and the children.
"They'll be there my birthday--what'll you bet?" said Horace.
"I shall wear my tippet when we go to the depot, and have a new hood,"
said Grace. "I don't know what my dress will be, though."
"I'll make a bow-arrow, and a gun, and a steamboat for Prudy."
"And I'll give Susy my large doll, and make a blue dress for it, with
flowing sleeves. She shall put all her things into my cabinet."
"What'll we have to eat? Pecans, and 'simmons, and raisins, and figs."
"O, we shall have plenty to eat, Horace, we always do. We'll give 'em
canned peaches with cream. Susy likes cream as well as a cat."
"I'd like to see Prudy eat a 'simmon--a green one, I mean," cried
Horace, laughing aloud. "Seems like I can see her mouth puckering up
now."
Susy and Prudy, all this while, were riding home in the cars, under
the care of the conductor.
"O," sighed Susy, "I wish we were going backwards, just the other way.
Grandma is going to let Grace boil some candy to-night, and put
oilnuts in it."
"I guess they'll want _me_ to help 'em pull it," said Prudy.
"There, now, we've got to Brunswick," murmured Susy. "I don't like to
get so far away from the folks at grandma's. Don't it seem real
lonesome?"
"No, indeed," replied Prudy. "I'm glad we're goin' home to see mother
and the rest of 'em. What do you s'pose the baby'll say?"
But their speech was cut short by some large pieces of sponge cake,
which the smiling conductor brought to them wrapped in a newspaper.
Susy and Prudy reached home safely, and there is nothing more to be
said about them at present.
I think I will copy the letter which Prudy wrote to her dear friend,
Mr. Allen, or which she got aunt Madge to write the next time she went
to Portland.
CHRISTMAS DAY.
DEAR MR. 'GUSTUS ALLEN:
When you went off to the wars aunt Madge cried some, for I saw her
wiping her eyes. You asked me if I loved you for the candy, but I
didn't; I loved you for the nuts and oranges.
I think you was real good to write me a letter. I had just as lief
kiss you as not if you _wasn't_ my father; and aunt Madge says she'll
answer it, 'cause you couldn't read my writing; _but_ I hain't got any
pig! He was a pinky winky little thing, but grandpa kept a keepin' him
eatin', and he got so big once when I was gone that they had to kill
him.
But he didn't go to heaven, and I'm glad, for I don't ever want to see
_him_ again. That was last summer, when I was a _little_ girl. I don't
like pigs _now_.
Of course I'm going on five, for if I wasn't most five my grandpa Read
wouldn't be dead most two years.
I've got my presents, but they ain't took off the tree yet. Mother
gave me a tea-set. O, I wish you could see it, 'cause you wouldn't
break a single thing. And I had a doll, and lots of candy and books,
and a new dress, and a scarf, and some shiny shoes.
I'm glad you wrote me that darling letter. I can't think of any thing
to think of. The skeeters bit me when I was to grandma's. I hate
_live_ skeeters. They might be flies, and I wouldn't care then. They
used to get into my skin just as easy, and sting me all up.
Won't you write me another letter? Please to.
Susy fastened her tooth to the door-latch once. It got so loose it
shook in her mouth, and it hurt her so I had to cry. But _my_ teeth
are drove in real hard. I mean it hurt her when 'twas pulled, that's
what I mean.
I saw a cow the other day in the road, that wasn't hitched. Susy said,
"Go long goff, sir," but he didn't, and then a man shoo-brauded him,
and he went.
We had a dear little toady in the garden, and when I talked to him he
winked. He had a nest in the flower-bed last summer.
I like to stay at grandma's, so I can jump off of something. Mother
won't let us hunt for any eggs to Portland--'cause we haven't any
hens.
Horace was a captain to his men. He made me a sled. I had a new dress
on the Christmas-tree, and a sugar basket.
I've got a bad cold, but Susy hasn't. My head is all snuffed up.
When are you goin' to come home?
I haven't seen Grace and Horace for so long! They went home after the
baby died. God has got the baby up in heaven, but the _tired part_ of
him is in the garden.
My father is 'most crazy to see me. He is, truly; and when I say
_truly_, I _can't_ lie. He _said_ he wanted to see me so he was 'most
crazy, and he's comin' to-night.
I s'pose he'll bring me something, for I've been good. When I act
cross, it's 'cause I don't feel well.
Aunt Madge says to me I've wrote enough, and I'm tired. She's wrote
the letter, but I made it up.
I wish you a Merry Christmas! She asked me if I forgot to wish it, but
I didn't.
Good by.
From
PRUDY PARLIN.
* * * * *
SOPHIE MAY'S "LITTLE-FOLKS" BOOKS
DOTTY DIMPLE AT HER GRANDMOTHER'S
"Sophie May's excellent pen has perhaps never written
anything more pleasing to children, especially little girls,
than 'Dotty Dimple.' If the little reader follows Dotty
through these dozen chapters--from her visit to her
grandmother to the swing under the trees--he or she will
say: 'It has been a treat to read about Dotty Dimple, she's
so cunning.'"--_Herald of Gospel Liberty._
DOTTY DIMPLE OUT WEST
"Dotty's trip was jolly. In the cars, where she saw so many
people that she thought there'd be nobody left in any of the
houses, she offers to hold somebody's baby, and when it
begins to cry she stuffs pop-corn into its mouth, nearly
choking it to death. Afterwards, in pulling a man's hair,
she is horrified at seeing his wig come off, and gasps
out,'Oh, dear, dear, dear, I didn't know your hair was so
tender!' Altogether, she is the cunningest chick that ever
lived."--_Oxford Press._
DOTTY DIMPLE AT HOME
"This little book is as full of spice as any of its
predecessors, and well sustains the author's reputation as
the very cleverest of all writers of this species of
children's books. Were there any doubt on this point, the
matter might be easily tested by inquiry in half the
households in the city, where the book is being revelled
over."--_Boston Home Journal._
DOTTY DIMPLE AT SCHOOL
"Miss Dotty is a peremptory little body, with a great deal
of human nature in her, who wins our hearts by her comic
speeches and funny ways. She complains of being _bewitched_
by people, and the wind 'blows her out,' and she thinks if
her comrade dies in the snow-storm she will be 'dreadfully
'shamed of it,' and has rather a lively time with all her
trials in going to school."--_New York Citizen._
DOTTY DIMPLE AT PLAY
"'Charming Dotty Dimple,' as she is so universally styled,
has become decidedly a favorite with young and old, who are
alike pleased with her funny sayings and doings. 'Dotty at
Play' will be found very attractive, and the children,
especially the girls, will be delighted with her
adventures."--_Boston Express._
DOTTY DIMPLE'S FLYAWAY
"This is the final volume of the 'Dotty Dimple' Series. It
relates how little Flyaway provisioned herself with cookies
and spectacles and got lost on a little hill while seeking
to mount to heaven, and what a precious alarm there was
until she was found, and the subsequent joy at her recovery,
with lots of quaint speeches and funny incidents."--_North
American._
"A Little Red Riding-Hoodish story, sprightly and takingly
told."--_American Farmer._
LITTLE FOLKS ASTRAY
"This is a book for the little ones of the nursery or
play-room. It introduces all the old favorites of the Prudy
and Dotty books, with new characters and funny incidents. It
is a charming book, wholesome and sweet in every respect,
and cannot fail to interest children under twelve years of
age."--_Christian Register._
PRUDY KEEPING HOUSE
"How she kept it, why she kept it, and what a good time she
had playing cook, and washerwoman, and ironer, is told as
only Sophie May can tell stories. All the funny sayings and
doings of the queerest and cunningest little woman ever
tucked away in the covers of a book will please little folks
and grown people alike."--_Press._
AUNT MADGE'S STORY
"Tells of a little mite of a girl, who gets into every
conceivable kind of scrape and out again with lightning
rapidity through the whole pretty little book. How she
nearly drowns her bosom friend, and afterwards saves her by
a very remarkable display of little-girl courage. How she
gets left by a train of cars, and loses her kitten and finds
it again, and is presented with a baby sister 'come down
from heaven,' with lots of smart and funny
sayings."--_Boston Traveller._
LITTLE GRANDMOTHER
"Grandmother Parlen when a little girl is the subject. Of
course that was ever so long ago, when there were no lucifer
matches, and steel and tinder were used to light fires; when
soda and saleratus had never been heard of, but people made
their pearl ash by soaking burnt crackers in water; when the
dressmaker and the tailor and the shoemaker went from house
to house twice a year to make the dresses and coats of the
family."--_Transcript._
LITTLE GRANDFATHER
"The story of Grandfather Parlen's little-boy life, of the
days of knee breeches and cocked hats, full of odd
incidents, queer and quaint sayings, and the customs of 'ye
olden time.' These stories of Sophie May's are so charmingly
written that older folks may well amuse themselves by
reading them. The same warm sympathy with childhood, the
earnest naturalness, the novel charm of the preceding
volumes will be found in this."--_Christian Messenger._
MISS THISTLEDOWN
"One of the queerest of the Prudy family. Read the chapter
heads and you will see just how much fun there must be in
it: 'Fly's Heart,' 'Taking a Nap,' 'Going to the Fair,' 'The
Dimple Dot,' 'The Hole in the Home,' 'The Little Bachelor,'
'Fly's Bluebeard,' 'Playing Mamma,' 'Butter Spots,' 'Polly's
Secret,' 'The Snow Man,' 'The Owl and the Humming-Bird,'
'Talks of Hunting Deer,' and 'The Parlen Patchwork.'"
FLAXIE FRIZZLE
"Flaxie Frizzle is the successor of Dotty Dimple, Little
Prudy, Flyaway, and the other charming child creations of
that inimitable writer for children, Sophie May. There never
was a healthy, fun-loving child born into this world that,
at one stage or another of its growth, wouldn't be
entertained with Sophie May's books. For that matter, it is
not safe for older folks to look into them, unless they
intend to read them through. 'Flaxie Frizzle' will be found
as bright and pleasant reading as the others."--_Boston
Journal._
FLAXIE'S DOCTOR PAPA
"Sophie May understands children. Her books are not books
about them merely. She seems to know precisely how they
feel, and she sets them before us, living and breathing in
her pages. Flaxie Frizzle is a darling, and her sisters,
brothers, and cousins are just the sort of little folks with
whom careful mothers would like their boys and girls to
associate. The story is a bright, breezy, wholesome
narrative, and it is full of mirth and gayety, while its
moral teaching is excellent."--_Sunday-School Times._
FLAXIE'S LITTLE PITCHERS
"Little Flaxie will secure a warm place in the hearts of all
at once. Here is her little picture: Her name was Mary Gray,
but they called her Flaxie Frizzle, because she had light
curly hair that frizzled; and she had a curly nose,--that
is, her nose curled up at the end a wee bit, just enough to
make it look cunning. Her cheeks were rosy red, 'and she was
so fat that when Mr. Snow, the postmaster, saw her, he said,
"How d'ye do, Mother Bunch?"'"--_Boston Home Journal._
FLAXIE'S TWIN COUSINS
"Another of those sweet, natural child-stories in which the
heroine does and says just such things as actual, live,
flesh children do, is the one before us. And, what is still
better, each incident points a moral. The illustrations are
a great addition to the delight of the youthful reader. It
is just such beautiful books as this which bring to our
minds, in severe contrast, the youth's literature of our
early days--the good little boy who died young and the bad
little boy who went fishing on Sunday and died in prison,
etc., to the end of the threadbare, improbable
chapter."--_Rural New Yorker._
FLAXIE'S KITTYLEEN
"'Kittyleen'--one of the 'Flaxie Frizzle' series--is a
genuinely helpful as well as delightfully entertaining
story. The nine-year-old Flaxie is worried, beloved, and
disciplined by a bewitching three-year-old tormenter, whose
accomplished mother allows her to prey upon the neighbors.
'Everybody felt the care of Mrs. Garland's children. There
were six of them, and their mother was always painting
china. She did it beautifully, with graceful vines trailing
over it, and golden butterflies ready to alight on sprays of
lovely flowers. Sometimes the neighbors thought it would be
a fine thing if she would keep her little ones at home
rather more; but if she had done that she could not have
painted china.'"--_Chicago Tribune._
FLAXIE GROWING UP
"No more charming stories for the little ones were ever
written than those comprised in the three series which have
for several years past been from time to time added to
juvenile literature by Sophie May. They have received the
unqualified praise of many of the most practical scholars of
New England for their charming simplicity and purity of
sentiment. The delightful story shows the gradual
improvement of dear little Flaxie's character under the
various disciplines of child-life and the sweet influence of
a good and happy home. The illustrations are charming
pictures."--_Home Journal._
PENN SHIRLEY'S BOOKS
PENN SHIRLEY'S STORIES
FOR THE LITTLE ONES
"Miss Penn Shirley is a very graceful interpreter of
child-life. She thoroughly understands how to reach out to
the tender chord of the little one's feelings, and to
interest her in the noble life of her young companions. Her
stories are full of bright lessons, but they do not take on
the character of moralizing sermons. Her keen observation
and ready sympathy teach her how to deal with the little
ones in helping them to understand the lessons of life. Her
stories are simple and unaffected."--_Boston Herald._
THE LITTLE MISS WEEZY SERIES
Three volumes Illustrated Boxed, each 75 cents
LITTLE MISS WEEZY
"One of the freshest and most delightful, because the most
natural, of the stories of the year for children is 'Little
Miss Weezy,' by Penn Shirley. It relates the oddities, the
mischief, the adventures, and the misadventures of a tiny
two-year-old maiden, full of life and spirit, and capable of
the most unexpected freaks and pranks. The book is full of
humor, and is written with a delicate sympathy with the
feelings of children which will make it pleasing to children
and parents alike. Really good child literature is not
over-plenty, despite the multitude of books that come daily
from the press; and it is pleasing to welcome a new author
whose first volume, like this one of Penn Shirley, adds
promise of future good work to actual present
merit."--_Boston Courier._
LITTLE MISS WEEZY'S BROTHER
"This is a good story for young children, bringing in the
same characters as 'Little Miss Weezy' of last year, and
continuing the history of a very natural and wide-awake
family of children. The doings and the various 'scrapes' of
Kirke, the brother, form a prominent feature of the book,
and are such as we may see any day in the school or home
life of a well-cared-for and good-intentioned little boy.
There are several quite pleasing full-page
illustrations."--_The Dial._
"We should like to see the person who thinks it 'easy enough
to write for children' attempt a book like the 'Miss Weezy'
stories. Excepting Sophie May's childish classics, we don't
know of anything published as bright as the sayings and
doings of the little Louise and her friends. Their pranks
and capers are no more like Dotty Dimple's than those of one
bright child are like another's, but they are just as 'cute'
as those of the little folks that play in your yard or
around your neighbor's doorsteps."--_Journal of Education._
LITTLE MISS WEEZY'S SISTER
"It is one of the best of the series, and will please every
child who reads it. It is brought out just at the holiday
time, and is brimful of good things. Every character in it
is true to nature, and the doings of a bright lot of
children, in which Miss Mary Rowe figures conspicuously,
will entertain grown folks as well as little ones."
"It is a thoroughly clever and delightful story of
child-life, gracefully told, and charming in its blending of
humor and pathos. The children in the book are real
children, and the pretty plot through which they move is
fully in harmony with the characters. The young ones will
find it a storehouse of pleasant things pleasantly related,
and a book that will appeal at once to their sentiments and
sympathies."--_Boston Gazette._
"A book that will hold the place of honor on the nursery
bookshelf until it falls to pieces from much handling is
'Little Miss Weezy's Sister,' a simple, yet absorbing story
of children who are interesting because they are so real. It
is doing scant justice to say for the author, Penn Shirley,
that the annals of child-life have seldom been traced with
more loving care."--_Boston Times._
* * * * *
Sophie May's Complete Works
LITTLE FOLKS' BOOKS
Illustrated. Per Volume, 75 cents
_LITTLE PRUDY'S CHILDREN_
Wee Lucy
Wee Lucy's Secret
Jimmy Boy
Jimmy, Lucy, and All
Kyzie Dunlee
Lucy in Fairyland
_LITTLE PRUDY STORIES_
Little Prudy
Little Prudy's Sister Susy
Little Prudy's Captain Horace
Little Prudy's Cousin Grace
Little Prudy's Story Book
Little Prudy's Dotty Dimple
_DOTTY DIMPLE SERIES_
Dotty Dimple at Her Grandmother's
Dotty Dimple Out West
Dotty Dimple at School
Dotty Dimple at Home
Dotty Dimple at Play
Dotty Dimple's Flyaway
_LITTLE PRUDY FLYAWAY SERIES_
Little Folks Astray
Prudy Keeping House
Aunt Madge's Story
Little Grandmother
Little Grandfather
Miss Thistledown
_FLAXIE FRIZZLE STORIES_
Flaxie Frizzle
Doctor Papa
Little Pitchers
Twin Cousins
Flaxie's Kittyleen
Flaxie Growing Up
_THE QUINNEBASSET SERIES_
Six volumes. Illustrated. Per volume, $1.25
The Doctor's Daughter
Quinnebasset Girls
In Old Quinnebasset
Our Helen
The Asbury Twins
Janet; A Poor Heiress
HER FRIEND'S LOVER. Cloth, $1.00
PAULINE WYMAN. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25
JOY BELLS. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25
ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY
Illustrated Catalogue sent by mail postpaid
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston
* * * * *