About two weeks before the close of school, Miss Hare met with a misfortune. Because of the great amount of work she had to do, grading examination papers, her eyes became so weak that she scarcely could use them. Tiny felt sorry for the patient, hard-working teacher, and offered to be of assistance to her.
“You may come into the schoolroom and help me,” she said to him one Saturday morning. “I have a number of important letters to write. You are very painstaking, and I shall be glad to have your assistance.”
Tiny followed her into the room and sat down beside the desk, very happy to be of some use to one he so thoroughly respected. The material upon which he wrote was not so white and smooth as the paper used in schoolrooms nowadays. It was simply birch bark that could be rolled up and tied with heavy grass. The ink he used was the juice of the pokeberry, and his pen was a goose quill.
AS SOON AS HE HAD WRITTEN A LETTER, HE ROLLED IT NEATLY, ADDRESSED IT CAREFULLY, AND GAVE IT TO BILLY BEAVER, WHO CALLED A CARRIER PIGEON.
As soon as he had written a letter, he rolled it neatly, addressed it carefully, and gave it to Billy Beaver, who called a carrier pigeon to take it to its place of destination.
During the hour that Tiny spent in the schoolroom that morning, he learned about money orders and drafts, for it is said that at one time the more enlightened residents of Animal Kingdom made use of them.
Here are a few letters that Tiny either wrote or read for Miss Hare:
1. BUSINESS LETTER.
Beaver Creek, Joy Co., Animal Kingdom,
May 25,——