Part 4

We subscribed for you again, dear YOUNG PEOPLE, and you can not imagine with what pleasure the first copies were received. We ran to meet papa on Thursday, and how we shouted when we saw that our books had come! But we made still more noise when we saw our old friends Toby Tyler and Jimmy Brown. We saw one grand improvement in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and it was the Postmistress. What a dear, kind, patient lady she must be! We have a great many pets. Perhaps we would not have so many if we did not make pets out of almost everything; even the calves and pigs are pets. We have got a very cunning little kitten. She is very playful, but will not make friends with our dog Hunter. Do you think she could be taught to sit up and beg as some dogs do? Kitty _can_ sit up when she wants to, but it seems so easy for her to fall over. We have a pretty little red calf that is a pet, and we named her Baby, because she was smaller than any of the other calves of her age. We have a handsome black colt that is two years old, and he is the greatest pet of all. He is a little orphan. His mother died when he was a very young colt, and my sister and I have raised him by hand. I could fill a whole page telling you how cute he is, but I am afraid you would not want to print so much. We have not any little birds, but we have an empty cage, and could catch a great many wild birds if we wished to; but we don't think they would love us if we took them out of the beautiful woods and shut them in a narrow cage. There are a great many wild birds' nests close around here, and in the morning they make the woods echo with their sweet songs. In the winter the snow-birds come every morning for their breakfast of bread-crumbs; so we always have birds around us, winter or summer. Rosalie P.'s letter was the first I ever saw in Our Post-office Box written by any person that I knew. Now we will close, and, dear Postmistress, we hope we have not made your head ache by such a long chatterbox letter.

ADDIE and LULU.

Made my head ache? No indeed; though you did make me blush when I read those complimentary adjectives. You are quite right not to catch and cage the wild birds, and the pets you now have are enough in number to occupy all your spare moments. Probably you can teach kitty to beg if you try; but is it worth while?

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Polly and Patty one summer day To the dentist had to go, For the little white teeth in Polly's mouth Were not in an even row. And Patty had one that ached and hurt, Until she was fairly wild; So mother said to her two sweet girls, "You must each be brave, dear child!"

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COLLEGE HILL, NEAR CINCINNATI, OHIO.

The Post-office Box is very interesting to us little folks, and I have long wanted to contribute to it, but my papa tells me to write only when I have something of interest to say, so I have waited until now. Among our many Christmas gifts this year was HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, which has given us a great deal of pleasure; indeed, we are so anxious we read it together. "We" means my sister Fanny and myself. My little brother, three years old, saw a circus procession last spring, and was delighted with it. When he came home he said he saw "great big pigs with logs tied on in front, and strings fastened on behind" (meaning the elephants), and "great big horses with lumps on their backs" (meaning the camels).

DAISY D.

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CAMBRIDGEBOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

I will tell you about our Indian excitement in Arizona last spring. We were living in Galeyville at the time of the Apache outbreak (some of you will remember the letter from there in No. 128). We were dreadfully frightened. We heard the firing one day when one of the men was shot. He went out to look for his horses, when the red-skins saw and killed him. We could see them (the Indians) the same evening as they passed just below town; they had hundreds of stolen horses along. At night the women and children slept in an adobe house which was barricaded. All the men in the camp were armed, and took turns at keeping guard; they expected to have a fight some morning at daybreak.

My papa and another gentleman talked the matter over, and decided to send their families to Tucson. So we got ready very hastily, and on the morning of the 26th of April we said "good-by" to the dear old camp where we had had such good times. It was a drive of twenty-five miles to our station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. There were two ladies, five children, and five riflemen, besides papa, who drove. A mile out of town we came to an encampment of soldiers, about five hundred in number. Two companies were mounted and moving, and the others were drawn up in line, ready to mount; each man stood at his horse's head, and took off his hat as we passed. We boys thought it very fine. But the scouts who accompanied them, about eighty Yuma Indians, looked hideous in their war-paint. They wore but little clothing, and all had red turbans on to show that they belonged to the United States service.

When ten miles from home we crossed a fresh trail, and a few moments later discovered a band of Indians on either side, the one at our right being the larger, and some two miles away. Those at the left--there were twenty--were nearer, and as soon as they saw us, wheeled about, and came dashing after us. Papa whipped Kate and Jennie, and they broke into a regular runaway, which lasted for a mile or more, the Indians, of course, gaining on us all the while, and soon we were almost in shooting distance. Papa then stopped the team to prepare for an attack, when the Indians halted, seeming to hold a council, then turned and rode back as fast as they had come. They no doubt saw we were well armed, and that they might get the worst of it. The large band was mostly composed of stolen horses without riders, but this we could not at first make out. I can never tell you how frightened mamma and Mrs. S. were, and how glad we all were to see the last of the hostiles.

We reached the railroad without any accident, and in time for the train. Mamma, brother, and I were in Tucson ten days, and then came here to my grandpa's house. The folks here had heard that we were all killed. A number of papa's friends were killed, and it was a most dreadful time. There are now no ladies or children at Galeyville, nor will there be for a long time. It makes us homesick to think about it all. My papa came on a few weeks ago, and we intend to stay here all summer. This is a very pleasant town. A river flows through it, bordered by grand old trees and sloping grassy banks, and spanned by a handsome suspension-bridge. We have nice times riding black Charlie, my grandpa's horse.

GEORGIE B. C.

What a jubilee there must have been at grandpa's when you arrived there safe and sound.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

I never saw a letter from this "City of the Angels," so I thought I would write you one. I am a little girl only ten years old, but I like to read. I am very glad when Tuesday comes, for that is the day I get the YOUNG PEOPLE. It takes a long time for the paper to get here, and I suppose that while I am reading this week's number some little girls in New York are reading the next number. I expect you would like to hear something about this city so far away. Here the weather is so very fine--just the same the whole year round. We do not have hot days as they do in the East, and the nights are always cool. The winter is the prettiest part of the year, for then everything is green. You ought to see the orange groves and vineyards. They pick oranges every day in the year. I tell you, I love oranges. Papa says he could catch me in a dead fall with oranges--whatever that is. Besides oranges, they grow lemons, figs, cherries, apricots, limes, walnuts, and oh, so many things! And oh, the roses--I do love roses so!--bloom all the time. You must not think that because we are so far away we do not see anything nor have anything that other people see and have. We have everything you have East. My favorite piece is "Toby Tyler." I like Our Post-office Box ever so much. I have no pets; but I have a nice doll, and a mischievous brother who is five years old. His name is Guy.

LOUIDA O'B.

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HAMILTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

I am a little girl ten years old. I have a little tortoise-shell kitten. He is so cunning! I named him Twinkletum Shine, after a star that was in YOUNG PEOPLE. Tell the Postmistress to tell Jimmy Brown to write some more. This is my second letter, but the other was not printed. I was so sorry!

ELLA W. F.

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TAMPA, FLORIDA.

I am a little girl twelve years old, and have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE nearly a year, and I enjoy it so much! Papa has a beautiful orange grove, ten miles from Tampa, and we do enjoy the oranges, for they are so sweet. Tampa is beautifully situated on Tampa Bay. We have a splendid view of the Gulf of Mexico. I have eighteen dolls, and a cat named Baby, who eats raw cabbage and turnips, and talks for his dinner. He will let me dress him up in my dolls' clothes, and put him in my dolls' carriage, and take him to ride. I had a nice dog named Spot, but some one poisoned him, and he died. I have only one sister, and she is older than myself. We are the only children. I have tried a great many of your candy receipts, and they have proved to be splendid. I fear my letter will weary you. Much love to the Postmistress.

MINNIE W.

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COLD SPRING, NEW YORK.

I was nine years old on April 15. We have two cats named Jack and Tabby, and a dog named Franklin. He can beg, walk, fetch things, jump over a stick, die, and will put things down when you tell him to. I take music lessons, and go to school. I have all the numbers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE from No. 1 to No. 144. I have a croquet set. The wickets are made of wire and corks. The stakes are corks, and for mallets and balls I have sticks and marbles. You can use it in the house, on the table or on the floor. We did not buy the set, but it was made at home. I have more than eleven dolls. I will mention some: Bertha King, Mary King, Eddie King, Susan Stuart, Nellie Stuart, Emma Stuart, Daisy Stuart, Lily King, Maud Stuart, Cherubina Stuart, and others. I have a brother and a sister. My brother is eleven years old, and my sister is sixteen.

HELEN B. W.

Perhaps some ingenious boys who read Helen's letter will try to make a croquet set like hers for their sisters.

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TEXANA, TEXAS.

As brother Tom takes YOUNG PEOPLE, and we like it so much on account of the good stories it contains, I thought I would write a letter to Our Post-office Box. I am eleven years old, and have been going to school up at Navidad to Mr. S. It is ten miles from here, and my older brother Tom and I come home every Friday evening, and go back Sunday evening. We board with our sister Irene. It is now vacation, and we are at home helping our papa and mamma work. I see so many writing about their pet cats, dogs, birds, etc. I have two cats, one a yellow one, and the other a white and gray; but papa does not like them much, especially when they come about the table. My business is to hunt up the hens and guineas' nests. Sometimes I find several dozen eggs in the same nest. I also look after the turkeys. We have sixty-two young turkeys, some nearly half grown. They go off every morning, after I feed them with clabber, to the millet patch and prairie after grasshoppers, and at night come home to roost. There are nineteen small ones that we keep in the yard--too small to let out yet. We also have twenty-five young guineas; they are small, and have to be kept in the yard. They have a box to roost in to keep from getting drowned when it rains.

We have not had much rain until yesterday for a long time. Our garden had been parched up, but now I reckon it will revive. There are a great many cracks in the ground here when it gets very dry, large enough to put your foot in, and it is very dangerous then to run a horse on the prairie. I send you two Spanish butterflies (that is what we call them). They are the most voracious things you ever saw. Our railroad is completed to Victoria.

LUCIUS I. S.

The butterflies are very handsome, and quite formidable-looking.

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ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY.

I have just got home from Europe. I was over there one year, so I became quite accustomed to it, but I like America far better than any other land. When we left England all you could hear was about the Egyptian war; it was on every tongue. England may be large and great, but I like Scotland best. It is so beautiful! Everywhere you go it is lovely, and it has such romantic old castles! And, do you know, I saw the place where poor Rizzio was killed. I will tell you how we came to go to Europe. It was my birthday, and papa asked me what I wanted for a present. I did not know, so I said that I would like to go to Europe. All our folks laughed at me, but still papa gave me no present. So one day our carriage stopped at the door just as usual, and mamma, papa, and I got in, as I thought to go riding; but we went down such dirty streets that they attracted my attention, and I asked papa about it, and he said we were going a new way. At last we came in sight of a large vessel. We went on board, for papa said he wanted to show me the _Illinois_, and as we stepped upon it all our friends and relations were there. They all kissed me in a hurry, and said, "May you well enjoy your birthday present!"

GERTIE D.

Very few girls have had a nicer birthday present than the one your papa gave you. What a charming surprise!

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KIRKWOOD, MISSOURI.

I am eleven years old, and have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for three years, but have never attempted to write to you before. I have only been going to school a year, for we have always lived so far out in the country that mamma has been afraid to send me so far from home. It is vacation now, but mine is almost spoiled by my having the whooping-cough, which I do not particularly enjoy. My sister Jessie and I often take turns riding horseback down to the depot to meet our papa, who comes home every evening on the seven-o'clock train. We spent last winter in the city of St. Louis. Jessie and I have each a flower bed of our own. Jessie's is in the shape of a letter J for her name, and has a great many pretty flowers in it, such as pansies, verbenas, phlox, heliotrope, and other plants. Mine is round, and has a great many geraniums, and in the centre is a plant called the hibiscus, which has a very pretty large red flower on it. We have a great deal of fruit now. The peach, pear, apple, and plum trees are so full that we have to prop them up with poles.

PERLE.

I think if one must have the whooping-cough, it interferes less with vacation pleasures than with school duties.

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MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

I am a little girl, nine years old. We have two dogs; their names are Dan and Frisk. Dan is a pointer. He is very loving and full of fun, and if you throw a ball, he will run and bring it back to you, and he plays hide-and-seek as well as a little girl could. Frisk is a little yellow dog. He is very ugly, but very funny. While I was writing this letter Dan came in and jumped on the paper with muddy paws, so I had to copy it over.

LILY C.

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THE FIRST SAIL.

Little Jimmie Evereux stood on the pier looking at a white sail-boat with two seats in it, and wondering if his papa would ever come and give him the long-looked-forward-to first ride in it. Jimmie had on his new blue sailor suit, and it was no wonder that passers-by looked with interest at the "blue-eyed laddie," who had waited so patiently for half an hour. But all things come to an end at last, and Jimmie's patience was no exception. After a long look up and down the shore, Jimmie crossed the street and went up the walk toward the pretty cottage where he and his mamma and papa and auntie lived all summer.

Mamma and auntie sat on the piazza, sewing and talking. Said mamma:

"Mrs. Gray has been ill, I hear. I pity her so much! She doesn't seem to enjoy life one bit."

"Oh, I don't know," said auntie. "Perhaps she needs rest. Why not invite her out here for a little while?"

"I'll let her ride in the new boat," said Jimmie, anxious to be good to Mrs. Gray.

"You wouldn't the first time, would you?" said auntie.

"Y--yes," said Jimmie. "Only--well, she isn't here."

"Jimmie," said mamma, "go down to the post-office and see if there's a letter from grandma there."

"I'm afraid papa will come."

"Well, what if he does? You won't be long."

"All right, then," said Jimmie; and away he went.

At the post-office was a letter for auntie, a paper for mamma, his own HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and the _Daily News_. Jimmie started home gayly; but when he reached the gate, his joy turned to sorrow, for Mrs. Gray sat on the piazza. Papa beckoned to Jimmie, who followed him into the house.

"Jimmie," said papa, "will you give up your sail-boat ride to Mrs. Gray?"

"Oh, papa!" Then, after thinking a minute: "Yes, I will."

"That's my good little boy," said papa; and in a few minutes they were gone.

Jimmie soon forgot his disappointment in laughing over "Mr. Stubbs's Brother," and mamma helped to console him by a little gold dollar from grandma.

A. R. W.

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Frank R. writes about his dog Prince, who protects the chickens against cats, and helps his master catch them when they run away. Ernest D. tells about the quartz mines near his home in California. Richard H. has a dog named Flora, a Newfoundland. This splendid animal weighs 100 pounds, and, harnessed to the baby's carriage, draws that little lady about the town. Thomas M. has a calf which is pure white except its ears, nose, and legs above the hoof, which are red. Alice F. must write a longer letter next time. Jimmie R. has five hives of bees, two Italian and three hybrid, and is very successful in getting large quantities of honey. This Jimmie sends his regards to Jimmy Brown. Winifred C. has a good time practicing with her bow and arrows, and riding her gentle horse Ned. Lillie C., L. C. L., Willie B., and a great many more girls and boys are enjoying this vacation very much. The Postmistress sends her love to all her correspondents. She often wonders what this and that one is doing, and the little fishermen, apple-gatherers, bee-keepers, and home-helpers have her good wishes. Write again, little fingers, and don't be discouraged, even though Our Post-office Box does not print your letters.

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C. Y. P. R. U.

TWO AUNTIES.

"So that things are done," says Theo, "it does not matter how they are done."

The Postmistress differs with you, Theo. There are kind-hearted people in this world who spoil the effect of their best actions by cross or surly manners. The most beautiful gift will not please you if thrown in your face. Gifts are valued for the love they signify, and so they need loving looks and words to make them welcome. I have seen a family of young people perfectly devoted to an auntie who never did anything for them except tell them stories, show them her curiosities and treasures, and listen to their perplexities; and they were not in the least fond of another auntie, whose money was spent freely for them. She bought them new dresses and bonnets, sent the boys on vacation trips, and often took the girls to see pictures and hear fine music, yet they did not love her.

The aunt who did so much that was kind had a habit of constantly snubbing her nieces and nephews. If they made a mistake, she spoke of it publicly. If a reproof was given, it was in the severest terms. Her face wore a frown most of the time, and she made everybody around her uncomfortable. And so, though her poor heart was hungry for affection, she got only a crumb of it, while the happy, merry, fun-loving auntie had a whole feast.

Many of you are taking piano lessons. If you are in company, and are asked to play, consent without waiting to be coaxed. If you intend to sing your new song, or perform your last piece, you will do so gracefully by beginning at once without persuasion. If you must decline, let it be because you feel that you do not play well enough to give pleasure to the listeners. Do not, of all things, say, with a little toss of the head and pout of the lips, "I can not play on any piano but my own." That is very ungracious as well as ungraceful, and besides, like most impoliteness, it hurts the feelings of others.

When you have a friend to entertain, let nothing that you do for him or her appear to give you trouble. Keep your difficulties out of sight, and let only the pleasant things come to the front. Watch mamma when she has guests, and you will observe that she never makes a fuss, nor seems to be in a flutter, and still she takes care of them, consults their wishes, and forgets nothing which can add to their happiness while under her roof.

You will learn how to do it, whatever _it_ may stand for, by imitating your mother. Don't you think so?

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We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. to the article on "Egyptian History," and to "A River Gets Into Trouble," by Charles Barnard. The boys will be specially interested in an article on "Homing Pigeons," by Mr. C. W. Fisher.

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

FIVE EASY DIAMONDS.

1.--1. A letter. 2. Part of a fish. 3. A finger. 4. A point. 5. A letter.

2.--1. A letter. 2. A small cushion. 3. Relating to ships. 4. A boy's name. 5. A letter.

3.--1. A letter. 2. A plug. 3. Savory. 4. A trap. 5. A letter.

4.--1. A letter. 2. To caress. 3. Purport. 4. Fashion. 5. A letter.

SUNSHADE.

5.--1. A letter. 2. Not young. 3. Glitter. 4. Parched. 5. A letter.

S. X.

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No. 2.

1. A monkey. 2. A pronoun. 3. To bind. 4. Cunning. 5. A month. 6. A girl's name. 7. A color. 8. Sick. 9. To discover. 10. Timid. 11. A falsehood. 12. A period of time. Centrals spell the name of an important city of the United States.

LAURA and BEZETTE.

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No. 3.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

1. To kill. 2. Part of the dress of a Roman citizen. 3. Frugal. 4. To complete. 5. To dissolve. Primals and finals compose the name of a pleasure-boat.

EDGAR B.

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No. 4.

ENIGMA.

My first is one hundred. My second is nothing. My third is twice yourself. My fourth is fifty. My whole is a monk's hood.

W. C. L.

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ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 144.

No. 1.

H oo F A rn O R ea R T oa D

No. 2.