We are a little brother and sister seven and five years old. Papa buys Harper's Young People for us, and mamma reads the stories first, and then tells us what she thinks we can understand. We had a pair of rabbits sent to us from Indianapolis last year, but they were so much trouble we gave them away; we had a little turtle no larger than a twenty-cent piece, but that is dead; it lived two years. The sweetest pet we ever had was our dear little brother Arthur. He died last November, and we all miss him very much. He was so cunning! He was one year and a half old. We have never written to Young People before, and hope this will be published.
Harry and Emily F.
A baby brother is indeed a darling, and the best of pets. I am very sorry your little Arthur died.
Rockport, Massachusetts.
I thought I would write to you to tell you about my dolls. I have four; three of them are wax and one is china. One of the wax ones is nearly two years old, and I like her the best of all. She has curly hair all over her head, and can open and shut her eyes. Her name is Bessie B. Stamford. My next oldest doll is Kitty C. Stamford. She has light hair, which she wears braided down her back. Next comes Gertrude Bell Stamford. Santa Claus gave her to me last Christmas at a Christmas tree in our church. She was sitting in a cunning blue chair. She has dark hair and a bang. My littlest one is a four-cent china doll. Her name is Bertha Agnes Cross. I have a cunning little doll carriage with a canopy top. As I can not write very well myself, my sister is writing this for me. I like to read the letters in Our Post-office Box very much.
Helen E. B.
Isle of Pines, Cuba.
Some time has passed since I have had the pleasure of writing to the Post-office Box. I will begin by telling something about the Isle of Pines, where I am spending some months. The air of this place is very pure and healthy, because there are a great many beautiful pines and warm mineral springs; so a great many sick people come to breathe this delicious air. It is also famous for its exquisite fruits—pine-apples, mangos, and others. When it rains, in less than a half-hour the ground dries, as it is sandy. There are many parrots and mocking-birds and wood-peckers and larks here. The wild flowers are very beautiful, and there is a great variety of them. The "St. Peter" flowers, which grow out of old trees and fences, look like pretty butterflies; some are yellow and white, some rose-color and brown. I send you one to show you how pretty they are.