"Did you hear me, Emily?" inquired Mrs. Preston, in a sharper tone.
"O no, I did n't write much," said Oscar, in reply to Emily; "there's nothing in the letter that you would care about seeing."
"I did n't know you were going to seal up the letter so soon. I wanted to send a message to Alice and Ella," continued Emily.
"You are too late now," replied Oscar; "but I 'll give you a chance next time. What message do you want to send?"
"You must n't be so inquisitive," said Emily, with a laugh; "just as though I were going to tell you, when you would n't let me read the letter!"
"Well, I can tell you one thing,—I don't want to know," replied Oscar. "Aunt Eliza, do you know where Jerry is?"
"He has gone with his father down to the meadow lot," replied Mrs. Preston. "I guess they will be back before a great while."
Oscar set out for the "meadow lot," which was a quarter of a mile from the house, on the other side of the river. He had not gone far, however, when he met Mr. Preston and Jerry returning.
"I 've written my letter, uncle, and it's all ready to go to the post-office," said Oscar; "can't Jerry and I carry it over?"
"I 'll see about that this afternoon," said Mr. Preston; "I 've got something else for Jerry to do now."