M. L. U.
Danville, Illinois.
I was quite interested in Mary W. H.'s letter about her dog Prince. I have a dog of the same name. He is only a year and a half old, but he knows a great many tricks. He can walk on his hind-legs, sit on his haunches, speak, give his right or left paw, shake hands, crawl like a baby, and turn a somersault. He is very cute. A man shot him in the hind-leg one night, but it is not broken, and will soon be well.
We girls have organized a society lately, which we have called "The Dainty Finger Cooking Club." I am secretary, and every member has chosen a nom de plume for herself.
Bertha L.
We hope the Dainty Fingers will become very skillful.
New York City.
We have come all the way from Queensland, Australia, and are travelling around the world. Our home is in Rockhampton, which we left about four years ago. Since then we have lived in Brisbane, Sydney, and Auckland; then we crossed the Pacific to California, visiting Honolulu on our way. We spent some time in San Francisco, and then crossed the great American continent, and arrived in New York a few months ago. On our way over we stopped at Salt Lake City, Chicago, Detroit, Niagara, and other places. We saw Indians, Mormons, bears, buffaloes, California lions, coyotes, antelopes, etc. We crossed the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. On the Sierra Nevada we saw snow for the first time in our lives, and we did not know what to make of it at first. My little sister said it was soap-suds, and my little brother thought it was cream pie.
After a while we are going to Boston, and will then cross the Atlantic to Ireland, go from there to England, thence to Paris and Berlin, and finally we will return to our old home in Australia by way of the Suez Canal. By that time we shall have been pretty well around the world—don't you think so? We have a jolly family: papa, mamma, auntie, four sisters, and three brothers. One brother, three years old, is named Sydney Francis, but we call him Captain Cook, and another, Arthur Cecil, we call Nipper. We lost one dear little girl soon after we came here; poor little Mabel took diphtheria and died. We have a little American baby to take home with us. Her name is Marion Ruby, and she is three months old. If you would like me to write to you from Ireland or England, please let me know. We are always going to take Harper's Young People, even after we are again at home in Australia.
Olympia R. B. C.