I am a little girl six years old. I live in a house where my
great-grandpapa lived. There are high hills here, and a pretty
little brook, and it has speckled trout in it; and we live in the
shadow of big trees that my great-uncles planted when they were
little boys. The birds come and sing in the trees, and little red
squirrels chase each other through them, and bring nuts and eat
them in the trees. My uncle says, when he was a little boy, and
lived here, a red squirrel with a bushy white tail lived in these
same trees, and he tried to catch it in a trap, but could not. I
hope I will see one some time. I have two little kittens and a pet
lamb. The lamb goes to the pasture now, but at night comes and
bleats for us to feed him. And when it is almost dark, a
whip-poor-will comes and sings to us. The laurel is now in bloom on
the hills, and is both pink and white, and is very pretty. We sent
some of it in a box to Chicago. I went a mile to school, and
studied reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic, but the school
is closed now. My uncle sends me HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. It comes on
Tuesdays, and I like it very much. I am glad when Tuesday comes. I
enjoy the Toby Tyler stories, and read them the first thing. I like
to read about Jimmy Brown. He is a naughty boy but very funny. My
mamma says I must not like the naughty boys, and I will try not to,
but I read about them.