Mayfield, Ohio.
I am a little girl, and I live on a farm with my grandpa and grandma. I went to school six months last winter. I had two miles and a quarter to go. I went to a graded school, and there were thirty scholars in my room. I have no brother nor sister to play with. I have two pet lambs and ten chickens. I also have a piano. I took nineteen lessons last summer, and I am going to take more this summer. I liked the story of "Talking Leaves" very much. Good-night.
M. G.
Elder Sister.—Certainly the younger children should mind what you say when your father and mother are away from home. They will do this more pleasantly if you ask than if you order them, however. Try the plan of speaking gently without raising your voice.
Mary P.—The best time to answer a letter is, if possible, the day on which you receive it. Just after reading your friend's words you feel as if you had been brought very near to her, and there is a freshness and glow in answering her at once which will be gone by the next week. Still, some friends prefer to be kept waiting a little while. If Carrie D. is of that opinion, and prefers not to be answered for a few days or weeks, you might write her a journal letter. Every evening you might set down some of the incidents of your home life, tell her whom you have seen, what books you are reading, what new receipts you have tried, and what flowers are in bloom in the woods and garden. Such a letter would be very much better worth your sending than a hasty scrawl dashed off without care or pains. Above all, my dear, never apologize for a careless letter. If it needs an excuse, it should not be sent.
Robert.—The battle of Lutzen was fought on the 6th of November, 1632. It was in this battle that the great Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed. Gustavus was a leader of wonderful courage and many resources. Dressed in gray with a green plume, he would always be seen in the thickest of the fight, and often before a battle began he would be seen to kneel down and pray in the presence of the soldiers. I am very glad that you find history so captivating.