A LOVING KISS.
A big jar of sweetmeats
Stood high on the shelf;
All eager to reach it,
Climbed up a sweet elf.
A thumb and a finger
Were daintily dipped,
When all of a sudden
A little foot slipped.
Then oh, what a tumble!
And oh, what a cry!
But you see a big brother
Was standing close by.
He saw in a moment
Just what was amiss—
A bruised little forehead
Was cured by a kiss.
[IN THE CORNER.]
On the chair an open lesson, open wide at A B C,
In the corner little Lettice, just a little girl of three.
Little Lettice is not stupid; she can learn if she will try;
And she knows her A B C just as well as you or I.
But to-day she really will not think of anything at all
But the shining china dishes and the flowers on the wall;
When to big A mother pointed, saying, "Letty, this you know,"
Letty twirled her little fingers and sedately answered, "O!"
This is why our little Lettice in the corner there you see,
There to stand until it pleases her to say her A B C;
For she knows the printed letters just as well as you or I,
And the little miss could say them if she only chose to try.
[MONOGRAM PUZZLE.]
There is a novelty and ingenuity about this puzzle that can not fail to delight our puzzle-loving readers. Here, under a fanciful disguise, are four lines of poetry. Our artist has taken each word of a simple stanza, and worked the letters into a graceful monogram. Among the monograms may be found four well-known names. Take the four diagonals, beginning with the one in the left-hand corner. The first two and the last give the names of three popular authors, and the third that of a famous play.
There is not a bit of use in being discouraged about it, children; but we are not ashamed to tell you that sometimes we feel just a very little blue when we have to lay aside so many of your dear letters simply because we have not room enough to print them. And then we think of the sweet faces that will be clouded with disappointment, and the provoked faces that will frown, when the Post-office Box comes week after week without the letters John and Jenny are watching for so patiently. But, as we said, it isn't worth while to fret and cry, and so we, for ourselves, make up our minds to enjoy hearing about the goats that draw the little wagons, and the kittens that have such fearful fits, and the birds which are so cunning, and the babies who are so cute. We like to be told, even though we can not print the letters which so inform us, that Molly's little sister Bess is learning to walk, and that Arthur's brother Freddie claps his hands when he looks at the pictures in Harper's Young People. And if you'll keep the secret, and never whisper it to anybody, we'll tell you that we love just as dearly, and perhaps a wee, tiny morsel more dearly, the boys and girls whose words we do not print, than those whose letters are published in Our Post-office Box.
Cedar Hill, Pulaski County, Kentucky.
We have been taking Young People since last June; I like it very much. I am ten years old. We live in the country, and our home is called Cedar Hill because it has a great many cedar-trees in the yard, and is on a hill. We have six canaries; they sing very sweetly, and are very nice pets. We have a little black shepherd dog; we call him Jipsy; he is very playful.
Sophie M.
This dear little fellow who feeds the sparrows forgot to print his address at the top of his letter. It is a very nice letter notwithstanding:
I can not write good, so I will have to print my letter. I like Harper's Young People better than any of my story-books. I have about two hundred pets. You could never guess what they are, so I will tell you; they are sparrows, and they are so tame that they will come and perch on the window-sill and look for me to feed them. I give them bread every day. Sometimes, if I do not see them, they go around to the dining-room windows, and peep for me to come. They have a nest inside our garret window.
I wish Jimmy Brown would write and tell what he got for his Christmas. I hope his stocking was full. I got lots of nice things from Santa Claus. Good-by.
Theodore G. H.
Yoncalla, Oregon.
We have a dog and five cats. Our dog's name is Telephone. He is a good dog to catch rats and mice. We had a merry Christmas. My brother and I milk the cows and chop the wood. I am eleven years old, and my twin brother and I are going to grub all the ground we can this winter, and pa is going to plough it, and give us the proceeds. We have got about an acre and a half grubbed out. We grubbed up a snake four feet long.
George L.
Grubbing must be hard work, George, and we have no doubt it develops your muscles wonderfully. What are your brother and you going to do with your money when you receive it?
Danvers, Massachusetts.
I am a little girl in the third class in the grammar school, and my age is nine years. I have never seen a letter from Eastern Massachusetts in Young People, and so I thought that perhaps you would put mine in print.
Danvers is noted as the birth-place of the celebrated London banker George Peabody; also of General Putnam, who was so famous in the Revolution.
I am very fond of your paper, and wish it came every day.
May P. G.
Salubria, Idaho.
I have taken Harper's Young People for almost a year. I like it very much. I look every week to see what new trouble has befallen poor Jimmy Brown, and if I were his sister I would make him a jacket and stuff it with feathers. I can hardly wait for the papers to come, so as to hear what has become of Rita and Ni-ha-be. I have lived almost all my life in the valleys of Idaho. There are many beautiful sights here, such pretty flowers grow in valley and mountain. One kind grows right near the edge of the snow, away up the mountain-side. One can step right from the blossoms to the snow.
I wish I could have a good school to go to, like so many little girls of my age. I have attended school but nine months in my life. My mother teaches me at home. I have two horses all my own and a saddle, and can ride splendidly, mamma says. I am twelve years old.
Alma C.
Though deprived of the opportunity of going to school, you have learned to use your eyes, and see the beautiful things which God has made; and if you study and read and profit by your mother's instruction, you will lay a good foundation for the class-room when you are older. It is quite an advantage, too, to ride so well, and the health you gain as you canter over the hills is something to be thankful for.
Prospect, Oneida County, New York.
I live up here near the North Woods, and it is hard work to get books to read, and the winters are long. My father is a guide, and will send any one who will mail me a good book, a map of the Canada lake region, showing the route from Utica, via Trenton Falls, through the wilderness to the lakes.
My father was in the war, and when the powder-magazine blew up at Yorktown, Virginia, in December, 1863, he found between the walls of an old brick house a curious pipe, made of mahogany, bone, and brass, and he says I may offer it in exchange for a printing-press and type, or a very fine scroll-saw and the attachments.
I am eleven years old, and my pa says your paper is full of the best reading for boys.
Alfred B. Worden.
Arivaca, Arizona.
My brother takes Young People, and we both enjoy reading it very much. We wish to tell you of our pony, which we all love dearly. When we have ridden him, he always wants a piece of bread or some sugar, and if we do not give it to him as soon as he is unsaddled, he opens the side door by turning the knob with his lips. Should we drive him away and shut the door, he immediately opens it again, and stands by it until he gets his piece, when he will go off to eat grass. He is very gentle and knowing. Our mamma writes this for us, as we were afraid you would have too much trouble to study it out if we wrote it.
Lena and Charlie B.
What a wise pony! He deserves a large piece of bread with sugar on it; and we hope he never has to wait long for his reward after taking his little master and mistress to ride.
Detroit, Michigan.
I am a little boy eight years old. I take Young People. My sister takes St Nicholas. I was twelve miles out in the country the other day. The cars pass our door. We have a type-writer, and I write on it instead of with a pen. My papa is a lawyer, and I copy testimony sometimes. We have a little baby, and we call him Mr. Google, but his right name is Herbert.
Norman F.
Your beautiful type-writing made us feel like congratulating your father that he has so intelligent and skillful a copyist.
Woodbury, New Jersey.
Can any one beat Woodbury for late dandelions? The one inclosed was found on our lawn this morning, January 10.
H.
And a little beauty it must have been, as we can testify, who received it pressed.
Beulah, Kansas.
I read before our lyceum the story of Jimmy Brown and his monkey; it made everybody laugh. My uncle sent me a pair of Italian Leghorn chickens. They are beauties. We call the rooster John, and the hen Biddy. Biddy lays an egg every day. I think it pays to keep a hen. We live in Southeastern Kansas; this is the great coal, lead, and zinc region. We have had a very mild winter so far. This country is thickly settled. There has been a large immigration during the last two years. We have school nine months out of the year. I am eight years old, and read in the Fifth Reader, and study geography, grammar, arithmetic, spelling, and writing.
William Pitt A.
I am a little girl just six years old, and my name is Joe. I read all the letters in Young People. I have a cat named Cutty; but her whole name is Connecticut, because she came from there in a box by express. She is very smart, and can do a great many tricks. She can lie down as if she were dead; can stand on her hind-legs; says her prayers, gives her paw to shake hands, sits upon the piano-stool with her paws on the keys, and her head thrown back, as if she were singing a song. She sits at the table in a high chair, with a napkin around her neck, and laps milk from a saucer without putting her paws on the table. Now have any of the Young People got a smarter cat than mine? I like Harper's Young People very much, and when I have finished reading it, I send it to a little boy who lives on a farm in the country, where I spent last summer. I have no brothers or sisters. But I am going to be a doctor when I am big.
J. W. K.
We would like to know where this little girl lives, as she forgot to tell us. Perhaps she will write again.
Santa Cruz, California.
As I have seen only one letter from here, and that from my friend Edith D., I thought I would write and tell you about my doll Martha Washington. She is very large, and a perfect beauty. She has a nice dress, and my mother is going to make me a nice hat for her. My doll has brown eyes and white hair. We have two dogs and two cats at our house, and each of the children has a fine bow and a set of arrows, and we have a target to shoot at.
Jessie N. D.
When you have learned to sew so well that you can make Madam Martha Washington a dress and a hat with your own skillful fingers, you must write and tell us how much you enjoy working for the darling yourself. Little girls often learn to sew very beautifully by making clothes for their dolls, and we think it is a great accomplishment to sew neatly by hand as well as on the machine. What does your mother think?
Cross Village, Michigan.
I live on the shore of Lake Michigan, about twenty-five miles from old Fort Mackinaw. It is lovely in the summer season to see the vessels pass. Many of them land at the dock. We can also see two light-houses. I think "Talking Leaves" is splendid. I have two brothers and one sister. Ernest, Henry, and Olla are their names. My grandma sent Young People to me last year. Isn't she a dear good grandma? I am eleven years old.
M. Effa G.
Be sure to try your skill at unravelling our puzzle column, little readers. You will find it a charming occupation for winter evenings. Try to send us some puzzles of your own invention, inclosing the answer invariably with the puzzle. We wish to print a long list of successful solvers next week. If you can not untangle every enigma and arrange every word square, never mind, but send us the answers of those which you can puzzle out, and do not be discouraged by a little trouble at the outset. The fun of making out a puzzle is in conquering it.