AN ALPHABET.
| A is an apple, so rosy and sweet! |
| B is a butternut dropped at your feet. |
| C is a crow flying over the hill, |
| D is a duck in the pond by the mill. |
| E is an egg that the hen hid away; |
| F is a fan for a very warm day. |
| G is a golden-rod lifting a plume, |
| H is a honey-bee kissing its bloom. |
| I is an icicle, sharp as a spear; |
| J is a juniper, green all the year. |
| K is a katydid, singing at dusk; |
| L is a lily, much sweeter than musk. |
| M is a mouse peeping out of her hole; |
| N is a napkin in tight little roll. |
| O is an owl, looking solemn and wise; |
| P is a pussy, with fun in her eyes. |
| Q is a question that children may ask; |
| R is a recess when ended your task. |
| S is a sugar-plum ever so nice; |
| T is a tooth biting it in a trice. |
| U is an usher, to find you a place; |
| V is a violet hiding her face. |
| W is a wren, with a dear little nest; |
| X is the gladness that fills her wee breast. |
| Y is Young People you all love so well; |
| Z is for Zoe, who reads it to Nell. |
Some little folks may think it odd that X stands for gladness. When they are older, and study algebra, they will find out that X is put for a quantity that is not known. Nobody can tell just how very glad a little mother-bird feels over her fledgelings.
Knoxville, Illinois.
I like so well to read the letters from other little boys and girls that I thought I would like to write you one. I have two dogs: their names are Prince and Gip. Prince is a shepherd dog, but can not scent so well as Gip, who is a rat terrier; so Prince coaxes Gip to go rabbit-hunting with him, and scent and catch the rabbits, when Prince eats them. Gip does not always like to do the work and let Prince have all the enjoyment, and sometimes runs back after they get started, but Prince will rub his nose, pat, and coax until Gip will finally go. I have two ducks, and they sit on nests close together, and divide the eggs between them. I have also a cat named Bessie; she had a kitten, but it died. I have a little sister named "Tot." I have taken Harper's Young People ever since it first started, and I think "Toby Tyler" was the best story of all. I am in the country visiting, and my auntie is writing this letter for me, as I am only six years old, and can not write. I have been riding on horseback, chasing the cows and pigs, catching chickens for auntie, drinking all the milk I want, and having a real good time. I have not seen any letters from the Knoxville girls and boys; so I hope you will print this, and let me surprise my papa, who prints papers too.
Sterling H. C.
This is a very nice letter, only, dear Sterling, I am sorry those dogs hunt and eat the poor rabbits, and if I were their little master, I would stop such work if I could. The ducks are much kinder than the dogs, in my opinion.
Ellensburg, Oregon.