Ella, a little schoolgirl of the sixties

The nicest thing that ever happened to a little girl eight years old was going to happen to Ella, and she was so delighted that she could hardly sit still in the big clumsy stag...

A second volume which Ella carried proudly under her arm when she went to the French class was called “Le Grandpère.” It was written expressly for the use of schools—so said the...

At the seminary there were only three children besides Ella. One was two-year-old Nellie, the steward’s daughter, whom she loved with all her heart. The second was John, and the...

The winter was a delight, but the spring and summer were even more enchanting. The seminary did not close until late in July, and there was time for the blooming of more kinds o...

There were two grandmothers. The one with white curly hair that glistened in the sunshine lived in the village where Ella was born. It was a pretty village with hills and brooks...

On Ella’s side of the street, as well as on Ida’s, interesting things were often going on. The mother and her friend were making wax flowers, and this was a delight to see. Ella...

Ella was a fortunate little girl in having so many cousins. Some were tall, some were short; some had blue eyes, and some had black; some had curly hair and some had straight ha...

Every day was full, but rainy days were fullest of all. Those were the times when the children made fiddles of cornstalks, popguns of elder, and candles of bayberry wax, using e...

The mother had agreed to take charge of a private school in the city for a year; and before many days had passed, Ella was setting out every morning at eight o’clock to practice...

There was something that Ella wanted even more than she had wanted the box of tin soldiers or the ride in a swan boat, and this was that she might go to the public school. It wa...

The assistant led the way to the Second Room, and Ella followed, her heart beating triumphantly, for this was Cora’s room. She was introduced to the teacher, and the teacher gav...

In the morning, when Ella reached the head of the stairs on the second floor, there stood the principal. The little girl looked up at him in a friendly fashion and he said “Good...

Ella kept a diary because her mother wanted her to. It was not always easy for her to think of something to write in it, but now she had a new subject, “Getting up head.” If she...

The class to be promoted met as usual in the Second Room, and with their books marched into the First Room. Besides the glory of the promotion, Ella’s dignity had another founda...

Ella was right in thinking that the principal liked her. He was severe, often harsh. Sometimes he seemed to delight in making the children uncomfortable, and even in punishing t...

The second new book that was purchased in honor of the First Room was a history of the United States. This was quite a grown-up history with its three hundred pages besides the...

One day at the beginning of Ella’s second year in the First Room, the superintendent came to the school and brought with him a stranger, a quiet gentleman with a pleasant smile.