CHAPTER I: GUESSING.
"Can you guess," said Louisa to her sister, as they sat at their work in the summer-house, "can you guess what aunt Harding will give us, as a keepsake, before she goes away?"
"No, I have not thought about it," said Emma; "and aunt has lately given us so many pretty things, that we can scarcely expect any more for a long time to come. There is my doll and its cradle, you know, and your baby-house and furniture, how much money they cost! No, I do not think aunt intends to give us anything else."
"But I am quite sure she will," replied Louisa; "for I was going past mamma's dressing-room this morning, when the door was a little way open, and I heard aunt Harding say, 'I should like to give the dear girls something really useful, which they may value as they grow older.' I did not hear anymore, because mamma has always told us it is not right to listen, and so I came away as fast as I could."
"Well, I wonder what the present will be?" said Emma, now quite convinced.
"What should you think of two handsome work-boxes—or, perhaps, as I am the eldest, of a work-box for yourself, and writing-desk for me?"
"That would be charming!" said Emma; "and I would let you use my work-box, and you could lend me your writing-desk sometimes."
"I will not make any promises," said Louisa; "you know you are very careless, and I should not like my nice new desk to be stained with ink, or, perhaps, scratched with the point of a pin."
"But mamma says I am growing more careful," said her sister; "and I do not think I am so heedless about other people's things, though I often spoil my own."