I think "The Cruise of the 'Ghost'" is the best story we have had yet. I have a printing-press with which I can print cards and little papers. I am in favor of the Natural History Society, and I hope it will succeed, as I think a good deal of knowledge can be gained in that way.
This' is my first letter to YOUNG PEOPLE. I have three sisters and two brothers. My mother once had a canary-bird, but it broke its leg, and then it died, and we missed it very much. I do not go to school, but have a governess who teaches me at home. We have taken YOUNG PEOPLE from the first number. Good-by.
I am nine years old. I attend a large school-house here, and have a very kind teacher, who knows how to draw very beautifully. We are now practicing for the closing summer exercises. A little girl and myself are to speak "Beautiful Snow." My eldest sister teaches school, and my big brother is a clerk in a store. I have _St. Nicholas_, _Wide Awake_, and YOUNG PEOPLE, and I received the latter as a prize for printing very nicely.
I have a little rabbit with pink eyes. I go to school in winter, and make mud pies in summer. My sister is four years old, and my brother is three. Her name is Carrie, and his is Pagnie. I am eight years old. My grandpa fell on the stones in the brook not long ago, and hurt his leg very badly.
What a pity for grandpa to have had such an accident! Do you ever make your pies in clam-shells or broken dishes, and trim them with parsley? They look very pretty when dressed in that way; and though not good enough to eat, they give the little baker a good appetite for real tarts and turn-overs.
I want to tell you about our cunning little dog. She is a blue Skye, and her name is Gypsy. She follows mamma all over the house. Sometimes she gets behind a table, or lies down with her head on a stool for a pillow. She begs and speaks. Sometimes she walks on her hind-legs. We play hide-and-seek together, and I tell Gypsy to go up stairs while I hide. When I call her, she runs down as fast as she can, gives a little turn at the bottom of the stairs, and then hunts till she finds me. She is very fond of ice-cream. Sometimes I put my coat on her, and mamma puts a dunce cap on her head. She then looks very funny indeed. We have a cat that is pure white. Her hind-legs are paralyzed, so she goes along like a kangaroo.
