I think if I were you, dear Amaranth, I would try to get into another frame of mind. I would willingly, not rebelliously, as part of my day's work, take the charge of the younger children, and say pleasantly, "Come, dears, I'm going out with Jennie and Susie, and you may be part of the procession; but you mustn't tag, you must keep step." If you will feel differently about it, the other girls will, and their little sisters will be included, and before you know it everything will be harmonious and lovely, as harmony cannot help being.
Tell you where to sell poems and stories, dear Lilybell? I would, if I could, but, my child, I'm not in favor of your publishing your work until you are older. At thirteen one's work may be full of promise, but it is not generally worth payment in money. Write and read, and wait till you are a few years older, and then begin, if you still wish to do so, to send the stories and poems to the editors, always feeling sure that the best work will, one day, win for its author name and fame and silver and gold. Not much of the last, but not any of the others, unless it is the best work.
I advise you, Clementina, to strengthen your memory, by making it treasure things for you. Learn by heart, word for word, a few poems, perhaps a stanza or two at a time; a few fine passages from history, a good many chapters of the Bible. Do not be satisfied with half learning. By heart means that you know the thing so thoroughly that you cannot be tripped up anywhere in repeating it. I advise you also to fix in your mind, by constant repetition, some of the great battles of the world and their dates; great inventions and their dates; wonderful discoveries and their dates.
Margaret E. Sangster.
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