I have taken your paper only a short time, beginning August 15. I have two kitties—one Snip, and the other Tabbie. I have some chickens. I think a good deal of one I call Bess. She knows her name, and will come to me when I call her. I have a little curly-headed brother, who is the sunshine of the whole house. I have a swing, and Albert, the little darling, likes to swing. I have to hold him in my lap. He is two and a half and I am thirteen years, and we are the only children. I want to take music lessons, but we have no piano. Papa does not know I am writing this letter, and it will please him very much to see it in print. Mamma always looks over my letters, so of course she knows this is the first letter I have ever written to you.
Grace M. S.
If I were you, I would learn to read music, and then when you have a piano, as I hope you will some day, you will be all ready to begin your study in earnest.
New York City.
As I see so many little girls and boys writing to Young People, I thought I would like to write too, and tell you how I have enjoyed myself in the country this summer. We went to Pine Plains, a place up the Hudson River, about one hundred miles from New York city. Pine Plains is in a beautiful part of Dutchess County; the country is very mountainous, some mountains rising to the height of one thousand feet. There are also some very nice lakes, where we found beautiful pond-lilies growing.
In the village there are four churches, and a free library, which contains a great many interesting books. The library is in the Post-office Building, and close by is the Pine Plains Bank. The main street is about half a mile long, beautifully shaded by large trees, beyond which is a lovely valley, in which was situated the house where we were staying, entirely secluded from the village by trees.
We had a croquet lawn in front of the house, and a short distance back of it was a splendid running brook, where we spent a great deal of our time wading in the water, and amused ourselves by building a dam. In some parts the water was deep enough for us to go in bathing, which we enjoyed very much.
I could write of many other things we did while there, but fear to make my letter too long.
Grace Pascall F.
Ellershouse, Nova Scotia.
I was writing a letter last March to tell you how much we all liked Harper's Young People, but before I had it finished we were taken ill with diphtheria, and one of my little brothers died. His name was Herbert; he was six years old, and he liked Harper's Young People too. I had three brothers and a little baby sister. Now I have two brothers. Arthur is eight years old, Cecil is three and a half, and baby is two and a half. I will be ten on the 1st of January. We live in the country, and have a governess. We are saving all the Harper's Young Peoples to have them bound. We had a little pet squirrel, and kept it for a little while, and then let it go, as it did not seem happy.