CHAPTER XII.

Chapter 148,763 wordsPublic domain

GOOD NEWS.

I don't suppose there was anything really infectious about my illness, though nowadays whenever there is any sort of sore throat people are very much on their guard. Perhaps they were not so cautious long ago. However that may have been, Myra was not banished from my room for very long. I rather think, indeed, that she used to creep in and sit like a little mouse behind the curtains before I was well enough to notice her.

But everything for a time seemed dreamy to me. The first event I can quite clearly recall was my being allowed to sit up for an hour or two, or, more correctly speaking, to _lie_ up, for I was lifted on to the sofa and tucked in almost as if I were still in bed.

That was a very happy afternoon. It was happy for several reasons, for that morning had brought me the first letter I had had from dear mamma since she had heard of my bold step in running away from school! Lying still and silent for so many hours as I had done, things had grown to look differently to me. I began to see where and how I had been wrong, and to think that if I had been more open about my troubles, more courageous--that is to say, if I had gone to Miss Ledbury and told her everything that was on my mind--I need not have been so terribly unhappy or caused trouble and distress to others.

A little of this mamma pointed out to me in her letter, which was, however, so very kind and loving, so full of sorrow that I had been so unhappy, that I felt more grateful than I knew how to express. Afterwards, when we talked it all over, years afterwards even, for we often talked of that time after I was grown up and married, and had children of my own, mamma said to me that she _could_ not blame me though she knew I had not done right, for she felt so broken-hearted at the thought of what I had suffered.

It had been a mistake, no doubt, to send me to Green Bank, but mistakes are often overruled for good. I am glad to have had the experience of it, as I think it made me more sympathising with others. And it made me determine never to send any child of mine, or any child I had the care of, to a school where there was so little feeling of _home_, so little affection and gentleness--above all, that dreadful old-world rule of letters being read, and the want of trust and confidence in the pupils, which showed in so many ways.

A few days after I received mamma's letter I was allowed to write to her. It was slow and tiring work, for I was only able to write a few lines at a time, and that in pencil. But it was delightful to be free to say just what I wanted to say, without the terrible feeling of Miss Aspinall, or worse still Miss Broom, judging and criticising every line. I thanked mamma with my whole heart for not being angry with me, and to show her how truly I meant what I said, I promised her that when I was well again and able to go back to school I would try my very, very best to get on more happily.

But I gave a deep sigh as I wrote this, and Myra, who was sitting beside me, looked up anxiously, and asked what was the matter.

"Oh, Myra," I said, "it is just that I can't bear to think of going back to school. I'd rather never get well if only I could stay here till mamma comes home."

"Dear little Geraldine," said Myra--she often called me "little" though she was _scarcely_ any taller than I--"dear little Geraldine, you mustn't say that. I don't think it's right. And, you know, when you are quite well again things won't seem so bad to you. I remember once when I was ill--I was quite a little girl then,"--Myra spoke as if she was now a very big girl indeed!--"I think it was when I had had the measles, the least thing vexed me dreadfully. I cried because somebody had given me a present of a set of wooden tea-things in a box, and the tea ran out of the cups when I filled them! Fancy crying for that!"

"I know," I said, "I've felt like that too. But this is a _real_ trouble, Myra--a real, very bad, dreadful trouble, though I've promised mamma to try to be good. Do you think, Myra, that when I'm back at school your grandmamma will sometimes ask me to come to see you?"

"I'm sure----" my little friend began eagerly. But she was interrupted. For curiously enough, just at that moment Mrs. Cranston opened the door and came in. She came to see me every day, and though at first I was just a tiny bit afraid of her--she seemed to me such a very old lady--I soon got to love her dearly, and to talk to her quite as readily as to kind Miss Fenmore.

"What is my little girl sure about?" she said. "And how is my other little girl to-day? Not too tired," and she glanced at my letter. "You have not been writing too much, dearie, I hope?"

"No, thank you," I replied, "I'm not tired."

"She's only rather unhappy, granny," said Myra.

"I think that's a very big 'only,'" said Mrs. Cranston. "Can't you tell me, my dear, what you are unhappy about?"

I glanced at Myra, as if asking her to speak for me. She understood.

"Granny," she said, "poor little Geraldine is unhappy to think of going away and going back to school."

Mrs. Cranston looked at me very kindly.

"Poor dear," she said, "you have not had much pleasure with us, as you have been ill all the time."

"I don't mind," I said. "I was telling Myra, only she thought it was naughty, that I'd rather be ill always if I was with kind people, than--than--be at school where nobody cares for me."

"Well, well, my dear, the troubles we dread are often those that don't come to pass. Try to keep up your spirits and get quite well and strong, so that you may be able to enjoy yourself a little before both you and Myra leave us."

"Oh, is Myra going away?" I said. "I thought she was going to live here always," and somehow I felt as if I did not mind _quite_ so much to think of going away myself in that case.

"Oh no," said the old lady, "Myra has her own home where she must spend part of her time, though grandfather and I hope to have her here a good deal too. It is easy to manage now Miss Fenmore is with her always."

In my heart I thought Myra a most fortunate child--_two_ homes were really hers; and I--I had none. This thought made me sigh again. I don't know if Myra guessed what I was thinking of, but she came close up to me and put her arms round my neck and kissed me.

"Geraldine," she whispered, by way of giving me something pleasant to think of, perhaps, "as soon as you are able to walk about a little I want you to come downstairs with me to see the lions."

"Yes," I said in the same tone, "but you did give them my message, Myra?"

"Of course I did, and they sent you back their love, and they are very glad you're better, and they want you very much indeed to come to see them."

Myra and I understood each other quite well about the lions, you see.

I went on getting well steadily after that, and not many days later I went downstairs with Myra to the big show-room to see the lions. It gave me such a curious feeling to remember the last time I had been there, that rainy evening when I crept in, as nearly broken-hearted and in despair as a little girl could be. And as I stroked the lions and looked up in their dark mysterious faces, I could not get rid of the idea that they knew all about it, that somehow or other they had helped and protected me, and when I tried to express this to Myra she seemed to think the same.

After this there were not many days on which we did not come downstairs to visit our strange play-fellows, and not a few interesting games or "actings," as Myra called them, did we invent, in which the lions took their part.

We were only allowed to be in the show-rooms at certain hours of the day, when there were not likely to be any customers there. Dear old Mrs. Cranston was as particular as she possibly could be not to let me do anything or be seen in any way which mamma could possibly have disliked.

And before long I began to join a little in Myra's lessons with Miss Fenmore--lessons which our teacher's kind and "understanding" ways made delightful. So that life was really very happy for me at this time, except of course for the longing for mamma and father and Haddie, which still came over me in fits, as it were, every now and then, and except--a still bigger "except"--for the dreaded thought of the return to school which must be coming nearer day by day.

Myra and I never spoke of it. I tried to forget about it, and she seemed to enter into my feeling without saying anything.

I had had a letter from mamma in answer to the one I wrote to her just after my illness. In it she said she was pleased with all I said, and my promise to try to get on better at Green Bank, but "in the meantime," she wrote, "what we want you to do is to get _quite_ strong and well, so put all troubling thoughts out of your head and be happy with your kind friends."

That letter had come a month ago, and the last mail had only brought me a tiny little note enclosed in a letter from mamma to Mrs. Cranston, with the promise of a longer one "next time." And "next time" was about due, for the mail came every fortnight, one afternoon when Myra and I were sitting together in our favourite nook in the show-room.

"I have a fancy, Myra," I said, "that something is going to happen. My lion has been so queer to-day--I see a look on his face as if he knew something."

For we had each chosen one lion as more particularly our own.

"I think they always look rather like that," said Myra dreamily. "But I suppose something must happen soon. I shall be going home next week."

"Next week," I repeated. "Oh, Myra!"

I could not speak for a moment. Then I remembered how I had made up my mind to be brave.

"Do you mind going home?" I asked. "I mean, are you sorry to go?"

"I'm always sorry to leave grandpapa and grandmamma," she said, "and the lions, and this funny old house. But I'm very happy at home, and I shall like it still better with Miss Fenmore. No, I wouldn't be unhappy--I'd be very glad to think of seeing father and mother and my little brothers again--I wouldn't be unhappy, except for--you know, Geraldine--for leaving you," and my little friend's voice shook.

"Dear Myra," I said. "But you mustn't mind about me. I'm going to try----" but here I had to stop to choke down something in my throat. "After all," I went on, after a moment or two, "more than a quarter of the time that father and mamma have to be away is gone. And perhaps in the summer holidays I shall see Haddie."

"I wish----" Myra was beginning, but a voice interrupted her. It was Miss Fenmore's.

"I have brought you down a letter that has just come by the second post, Geraldine, dear," she said; "a letter from South America."

"Oh, thank you," I said, eagerly seizing it.

Miss Fenmore strolled to the other side of the room, and Myra followed her, to leave me alone to read my letter. It was a pretty long one, but I read it quickly, so quickly that when I had finished it, I felt breathless--and then I turned over the pages and glanced at it again. I felt as if I could not believe what I read. It was too good, too beautifully good to be true.

"Myra," I gasped, and Myra ran back to me, looking quite startled. I think I must have grown very pale.

"No, no," I went on, "it's nothing wrong. Read it, or ask Miss Fenmore--she reads writing quicker. Oh, Myra, isn't it beautiful?"

They soon read it, and then we all three kissed and hugged each other, and Myra began dancing about as if she had gone out of her mind.

"Geraldine, Geraldine, I can't believe it," she kept saying, and Miss Fenmore's pretty eyes were full of tears.

I wonder if any of my readers can guess what this delightful news was? It was not that mamma was coming home--no, that could not be yet. But next best to that it certainly was.

It was to tell me this--that _till_ dear father and she returned, my home was to be with Myra, and I was to be Miss Fenmore's pupil too. Wherever Myra was, there I was to be--principally at her father's vicarage in the country, but some part of the year with her kind grandparents at Great Mexington. It was all settled and arranged--of course I did not trouble my head about the money part of it, though afterwards mamma told me that both Mr. and Mrs. Raby and the Cranstons had been most exceedingly kind, making out that the advantage of a companion for their little girl would be so great that all the thanking should be on their side, though, of course, they respected father too much not to let him pay a proper share of all the expense. And it really cost less than my life at Green Bank, though father was now a good deal richer, and would not have minded paying a good deal more to ensure my happiness.

There is never so much story to tell when people are happy, and things go rightly; and the next year or two of my life, except of course for the separation from my dear parents, were _very_ happy. Even though father's appointment in South America kept him and mamma out there for nearly three years instead of two, I was able to bear the disappointment in a very different way, with such kind and sympathising friends at hand to cheer me, so that there is nothing bitter or sad to look back to in that part of my childhood. Haddie spent the summer holidays with me, either at Crowley vicarage, or sometimes at the sea-side, where Miss Fenmore took care of us three. Once or twice he and I paid a visit to Mrs. Selwood, which we enjoyed pretty well, as we were together, though otherwise it was rather dull.

And oh, how happy it was when father and mamma at last came home--no words can describe it. It was not _quite_ unmixed pleasure--nothing ever is, the wise folk say--for there was the separation from Myra and her family. But after all, that turned out less than we feared. Miss Fenmore married soon after, and as father had now a good post in London, and we lived there, it was settled that Myra should be with us, and join in my lessons for a good part of the year, while I very often went back to Crowley with her for the summer holidays. And never without staying a few days at Great Mexington, to see Mr. and Mrs. Cranston and the lions!

* * * * *

Many years have passed since I went there for the last time. Myra's grandparents have long been dead--my own dear father and mother are dead too, for I am growing quite old. My grandchildren are older now than I was when I ran away from the school at Green Bank. But once, while mamma was still alive and well, she and I together strolled through the streets of the grim town, which had for a time been our home, and lived over the old days again in fancy. I remember how tightly I clasped her hand when we passed the corner where once was the old Quakeress's shop--all changed now--and walked down the street, still not very different from what it had been, where we used to live.

There was no use in going to Mr. Cranston's show-rooms--they had long been done away with. But the lions are still to be seen. They stand in the hall of Myra's pretty house in the country, where she and Haddon, her husband, have lived for many years, ever since my brother left the army and they came home for good from India.

I spend a part of every year with them, for I am alone now. They want me to live with them altogether, but I cling to a little home of my own. Our grandchildren know the lions well, and stroke their smooth sides, and gaze up into their dark faces just as Myra and I used to do. So I promised them that sometime I would write out the simple story that I have now brought to a close.

THE END.

A NEW UNIFORM EDITION OF MRS. MOLESWORTH'S STORIES FOR CHILDREN

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WALTER CRANE AND LESLIE BROOKE.

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In Ten Volumes. 12mo. Cloth. One Dollar a Volume.

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Tell Me a Story, and Herr Baby. "Carrots," and A Christmas Child. Grandmother Dear, and Two Little Waifs. The Cuckoo Clock, and The Tapestry Room. Christmas-Tree Land, and A Christmas Posy. The Children of the Castle, and Four Winds Farm. Little Miss Peggy, and Nurse Heatherdale's Story, "Us," and The Rectory Children. Rosy, and The Girls and I. Mary. Sheila's Mystery. Carved Lions.

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THE SET, TWELVE VOLUMES, IN BOX, $12.00.

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"It seems to me not at all easier to draw a lifelike child than to draw a lifelike man or woman: Shakespeare and Webster were the only two men of their age who could do it with perfect delicacy and success; at least, if there was another who could, I must crave pardon of his happy memory for my forgetfulness or ignorance of his name. Our own age is more fortunate, on this single score at least, having a larger and far nobler proportion of female writers; among whom, since the death of George Eliot, there is none left whose touch is so exquisite and masterly, whose love is so thoroughly according to knowledge, whose bright and sweet invention is so fruitful, so truthful, or so delightful as Mrs. Molesworth's. Any chapter of _The Cuckoo Clock_ or the enchanting _Adventures of Herr Baby_ is worth a shoal of the very best novels dealing with the characters and fortunes of mere adults."--MRS. A. C. SWINBURNE, in _The Nineteenth Century_.

MRS. MOLESWORTH'S STORIES FOR CHILDREN.

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"There is hardly a better author to put into the hands of children than Mrs. Molesworth. I cannot easily speak too highly of her work. It is a curious art she has, not wholly English in its spirit, but a cross of the old English with the Italian. Indeed, I should say Mrs. Molesworth had also been a close student of the German and Russian, and had some way, catching and holding the spirit of all, created a method and tone quite her own.... Her characters are admirable and real."--_St. Louis Globe Democrat._

"Mrs. Molesworth has a rare gift for composing stories for children. With a light, yet forcible touch, she paints sweet and artless, yet natural and strong, characters."--_Congregationalist._

"Mrs. Molesworth always has in her books those charming touches of nature that are sure to charm small people. Her stories are so likely to have been true that men 'grown up' do not disdain them."--_Home Journal._

"No English writer of childish stories has a better reputation than Mrs. Molesworth, and none with whose stories we are familiar deserves it better. She has a motherly knowledge of the child nature, a clear sense of character, the power of inventing simple incidents that interest, and the ease which comes of continuous practice."--_Mail and Express._

"Christmas would hardly be Christmas without one of Mrs. Molesworth's stories. No one has quite the same power of throwing a charm and an interest about the most commonplace every-day doings as she has, and no one has ever blended fairyland and reality with the same skill."--_Educational Times._

"Mrs. Molesworth is justly a great favorite with children; her stories for them are always charmingly interesting and healthful in tone."--_Boston Home Journal._

"Mrs. Molesworth's books are cheery, wholesome, and particularly well adapted to refined life. It is safe to add that Mrs. Molesworth is the best English prose writer for children.... A new volume from Mrs. Molesworth is always a treat."--_The Beacon._

"No holiday season would be complete for a host of young readers without a volume from the hand of Mrs. Molesworth.... It is one of the peculiarities of Mrs. Molesworth's stories that older readers can no more escape their charm than younger ones."--_Christian Union._

"Mrs. Molesworth ranks with George Macdonald and Mrs. Ewing as a writer of children's stories that possess real literary merit."--_Milwaukee Sentinel._

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THE SET, ELEVEN VOLUMES, IN BOX, $11.00.

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TELL ME A STORY, and HERR BABY.

"So delightful that we are inclined to join in the petition, and we hope she may soon tell us more stories."--_Athenæum._

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"CARROTS"; Just a Little Boy.

"One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good fortune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are delightful little beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond of."--_Examiner._

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A CHRISTMAS CHILD; A Sketch of a Boy's Life.

"A very sweet and tenderly drawn sketch, with life and reality manifest throughout."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"This is a capital story, well illustrated. Mrs. Molesworth is one of those sunny, genial writers who has genius for writing acceptably for the young. She has the happy faculty of blending enough real with romance to make her stories very practical for good without robbing them of any of their exciting interest."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

"Mrs. Molesworth's _A Christmas Child_ is a story of a boy-life. The book is a small one, but none the less attractive. It is one of the best of this year's juveniles."--_Chicago Tribune._

"Mrs. Molesworth is one of the few writers of tales for children whose sentiment though of the sweetest kind is never sickly; whose religious feeling is never concealed yet never obtruded; whose books are always good but never 'goody.' Little Ted with his soft heart, clever head, and brave spirit is no morbid presentment of the angelic child 'too good to live,' and who is certainly a nuisance on earth, but a charming creature, if not a portrait, whom it is a privilege to meet even in fiction."--_The Academy._

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THE CUCKOO CLOCK.

"A beautiful little story.... It will be read with delight by every child into whose hands it is placed."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

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GRANDMOTHER DEAR.

"The author's concern is with the development of character, and seldom does one meet with the wisdom, tact, and good breeding which pervades this little book."--_Nation._

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TWO LITTLE WAIFS.

"Mrs. Molesworth's delightful story of _Two Little Waifs_ will charm all the small people who find it in their stockings. It relates the adventures of two lovable English children lost in Paris, and is just wonderful enough to pleasantly wring the youthful heart."--_New York Tribune._

"It is, in its way, indeed, a little classic, of which the real beauty and pathos can hardly be appreciated by young people.... It is not too much to say of the story that it is perfect of its kind."--_Critic and Good Literature._

"Mrs. Molesworth is such a bright, cheery writer, that her stories are always acceptable to all who are not confirmed cynics, and her record of the adventures of the little waifs is as entertaining and enjoyable as we might expect."--_Boston Courier._

"_Two Little Waifs_ by Mrs. Molesworth is a pretty little fancy, relating the adventures of a pair of lost children, in a style full of simple charm. It is among the very daintiest of juvenile books that the season has yet called forth; and its pathos and humor are equally delightful. The refined tone and the tender sympathy with the feelings and sentiments of childhood, lend it a special and an abiding charm."--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette._

"This is a charming little juvenile story from the pen of Mrs. Molesworth, detailing the various adventures of a couple of motherless children in searching for their father, whom they had missed in Paris where they had gone to meet him."--_Montreal Star._

"Mrs. Molesworth is a popular name, not only with a host of English, but with a considerable army of young American readers, who have been charmed by her delicate fancy and won by the interest of her style. _Two Little Waifs_, illustrated by Walter Crane, is a delightful story, which comes, as all children's stories ought to do, to a delightful end."--_Christian Union._

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THE TAPESTRY ROOM.

"Mrs. Molesworth is the queen of children's fairyland. She knows how to make use of the vague, fresh, wondering instincts of childhood, and to invest familiar things with fairy glamour."--_Athenæum._

"The story told is a charming one of what may be called the neo-fairy sort.... There has been nothing better of its kind done anywhere for children, whether we consider its capacity to awake interest or its wholesomeness."--_Evening Post._

"Among the books for young people we have seen nothing more unique than _The Tapestry Room_. Like all of Mrs. Molesworth's stories it will please young readers by the very attractive and charming style in which it is written."--_Presbyterian Journal._

"Mrs. Molesworth will be remembered as a writer of very pleasing stories for children. A new book from her pen will be sure of a welcome from all the young people. The new story bears the name of _The Tapestry Room_ and is a child's romance.... The child who comes into possession of the story will count himself fortunate. It is a bright, wholesome story, in which the interest is maintained to the end. The author has the faculty of adapting herself to the tastes and ideas of her readers in an unusual way."--_New Haven Paladium._

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CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND.

"It is conceived after a happy fancy, as it relates the supposititious journey of a party of little ones through that part of fairyland where Christmas-trees are supposed to most abound. There is just enough of the old-fashioned fancy about fairies mingled with the 'modern improvements' to incite and stimulate the youthful imagination to healthful action. The pictures by Walter Crane are, of course, not only well executed in themselves, but in charming consonance with the spirit of the tale."--_Troy Times._

"_Christmas-Tree Land_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is a book to make younger readers open their eyes wide with delight. A little boy and a little girl domiciled in a great white castle, wander on their holidays through the surrounding fir-forests, and meet with the most delightful pleasures. There is a fascinating, mysterious character in their adventures and enough of the fairy-like and wonderful to puzzle and enchant all the little ones."--_Boston Home Journal._

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A CHRISTMAS POSY.

"This is a collection of eight of those inimitable stories for children which none could write better than Mrs. Molesworth. Her books are prime favorites with children of all ages and they are as good and wholesome as they are interesting and popular. This makes a very handsome book, and its illustrations are excellent."--_Christian at Work._

"_A Christmas Posy_ is one of those charming stories for girls which Mrs Molesworth excels in writing."--_Philadelphia Press._

"Here is a group of bright, wholesome stories, such as are dear to children, and nicely tuned to the harmonies of Christmas-tide. Mr. Crane has found good situations for his spirited sketches."--_Churchman._

"_A Christmas Posy_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is lovely and fragrant. Mrs. Molesworth succeeds by right to the place occupied with so much honor by the late Mrs. Ewing, as a writer of charming stories for children. The present volume is a cluster of delightful short stories. Mr. Crane's illustrations are in harmony with the text."--_Christian Intelligencer._

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THE CHILDREN OF THE CASTLE.

"_The Children of the Castle_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is another of those delightful juvenile stories of which this author has written so many. It is a fascinating little book, with a charming plot, a sweet, pure atmosphere, and teaches a wholesome moral in the most winning manner."--_B. S. E. Gazette._

"Mrs. Molesworth has given a charming story for children.... It is a wholesome book, one which the little ones will read with interest."--_Living Church._

"_The Children of the Castle_ are delightful creations, actual little girls, living in an actual castle, but often led by their fancies into a shadowy fairyland. There is a charming refinement of style and spirit about the story from beginning to end; an imaginative child will find endless pleasure in it, and the lesson of gentleness and unselfishness so artistically managed that it does not seem like a lesson, but only a part of the story."--_Milwaukee Sentinel._

"Mrs. Molesworth's stories for children are always ingenious, entertaining, and thoroughly wholesome. Her resources are apparently inexhaustible, and each new book from her pen seems to surpass its predecessors in attractiveness. In _The Children of the Castle_ the best elements of a good story for children are very happily combined."--_The Week._

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FOUR WINDS FARM.

"Mrs. Molesworth's books are always delightful, but of all none is more charming than the volume with which she greets the holidays this season. _Four Winds Farm_ is one of the most delicate and pleasing books for a child that has seen the light this many a day. It is full of fancy and of that instinctive sympathy with childhood which makes this author's books so attractive and so individual."--_Boston Courier._

"Like all the books she has written this one is very charming, and is worth more in the hands of a child than a score of other stories of a more sensational character."--_Christian at Work._

"Still more delicately fanciful is Mrs. Molesworth's lovely little tale of the _Four Winds Farm_. It is neither a dream nor a fairy story, but concerns the fortune of a real little boy, named Gratian; yet the dream and the fairy tale seem to enter into his life, and make part of it. The farm-house in which the child lives is set exactly at the meeting-place of the four winds, and they, from the moment of his birth, have acted as his self-elected godmothers.... All the winds love the boy, and, held in the balance of their influence, he grows up as a boy should, simply and truly, with a tender heart and firm mind. The idea of this little book is essentially poetical."--_Literary World._

"This book is for the children. We grudge it to them. There are few children in this generation good enough for such a gift. Mrs. Molesworth is the only woman now who can write such a book.... The delicate welding of the farm life about the child and the spiritual life within him, and the realization of the four immortals into a delightful sort of half-femininity shows a finer literary quality than anything we have seen for a long time. The light that never was on sea or land is in this little red and gold volume."--_Philadelphia Press._

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NURSE HEATHERDALE'S STORY.

"_Nurse Heatherdale's Story_ is all about a small boy, who was good enough, yet was always getting into some trouble through complications in which he was not to blame. The same sort of things happens to men and women. He is an orphan, though he is cared for in a way by relations, who are not so very rich, yet are looked on as well fixed. After many youthful trials and disappointments he falls into a big stroke of good luck, which lifts him and goes to make others happy. Those who want a child's book will find nothing to harm and something to interest in this simple story."--_Commercial Advertiser._

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"US."

"Mrs. Molesworth's _Us, an Old-Fashioned Story_, is very charming. A dear little six-year-old 'bruvver' and sister constitute the 'us,' whose adventures with gypsies form the theme of the story. Mrs. Molesworth's style is graceful, and she pictures the little ones with brightness and tenderness."--_Evening Post._

"A pretty and wholesome story."--_Literary World._

"_Us, an Old-Fashioned Story_, is a sweet and quaint story of two little children who lived long ago, in an old-fashioned way, with their grandparents. The story is delightfully told."--_Philadelphia News._

"_Us_ is one of Mrs. Molesworth's charming little stories for young children. The narrative ... is full of interest for its real grace and delicacy, and the exquisiteness and purity of the English in which it is written."--_Boston Advertiser._

"Mrs. Molesworth's last story, _Us_, will please the readers of that lady's works by its pleasant domestic atmosphere and healthful moral tone. The narrative moves forward with sufficient interest to hold the reader's attention; and there are useful lessons for young people to be drawn from it."--_Independent._

"Mrs. Molesworth's story ... is very simple, refined, bright, and full of the real flavor of childhood."--_Literary World._

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THE RECTORY CHILDREN.

"It is a book written for children in just the way that is best adapted to please them."--_Morning Post._

"In _The Rectory Children_ Mrs. Molesworth has written one of those delightful volumes which we always look for at Christmas time."--_Athenæum._

"A delightful Christmas book for children; a racy, charming home story, full of good impulses and bright suggestions."--_Boston Traveller._

"Quiet, sunny, interesting, and thoroughly winning and wholesome."--_Boston Journal._

"There is no writer of children's books more worthy of their admiration and love than Mrs. Molesworth. Her bright and sweet invention is so truthful, her characters so faithfully drawn, and the teaching of her stories so tender and noble, that while they please and charm they insensibly distil into the youthful mind the most valuable lessons. In _The Rectory Children_ we have a fresh, bright story, that will be sure to please all her young admirers."--_Christian at Work._

"_The Rectory Children_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is a very pretty story of English life. Mrs. Molesworth is one of the most popular and charming of English story-writers for children. Her child characters are true to life, always natural and attractive, and her stories are wholesome and interesting."--_Indianapolis Journal._

* * * * *

ROSY.

"_Rosy_, like all the rest of her stories, is bright and pure and utterly free from cant,--a book that children will read with pleasure and lasting profit."--_Boston Traveller._

"There is no one who has a genius better adapted for entertaining children than Mrs. Molesworth, and her latest story, _Rosy_, is one of her best. It is illustrated with eight woodcuts from designs by Walter Crane."--_Philadelphia Press._

"An English story for children of the every-day life of a bright little girl, which will please those who like 'natural' books."--_New York World._

"Mrs. Molesworth's clever _Rosy_, a story showing in a charming way how one little girl's jealousy and bad temper were conquered; one of the best, most suggestive and improving of the Christmas juveniles."--_New York Tribune._

"_Rosy_ is an exceedingly graceful and interesting story by Mrs. Molesworth, one of the best and most popular writers of juvenile fiction. This little story is full of tenderness, is fragrant in sentiment, and points with great delicacy and genuine feeling a charming moral."--_Boston Gazette._

* * * * *

THE GIRLS AND I.

"Perhaps the most striking feature of this pleasant story is the natural manner in which it is written. It is just like the conversation of a bright boy--consistently like it from beginning to end. It is a boy who is the hero of the tale, and he tells the adventures of himself and those nearest him. He is, by the way, in many respects an example for most young persons. It is a story characterized by sweetness and purity--a desirable one to put into the hands of youthful readers."--_Gettysburg Monthly._

"Jack himself tells the story of _The Girls and I_, assisted of course by Mrs. Molesworth, whose name will recall to the juveniles pleasant memories of interesting reading, full of just the things that children want to know, and of that which will excite their ready sympathies. Jack, while telling the story of the girls, takes the readers into his own confidence, and we like the little fellow rather better than the girls. The interest is maintained by the story of a lost jewel, the ultimate finding of which, in the most unexpected place, closes the story in a very pleasant manner. Jack, otherwise Mrs. Molesworth, tells the tale in a lively style, and the book will attract attention."--_The Globe._

"A delightful and purposeful story which no one can read without being benefited."--_New York Observer._

* * * * *

MARY.

"Mrs. Molesworth's reputation as a writer of story-books is so well established that any new book of hers scarce needs a word of introduction."--_Home Journal._

* * * * *

MACMILLAN & CO., 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.

MACMILLAN & CO.'S _CATALOGUE_ OF BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.

* * * * *

_Messrs. MACMILLAN & CO. are the agents in the United States for the publications of the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, and for Messrs. George Bell & Sons, London. Complete catalogues of all books sold by them will be sent, free by mail, to any address on application._

* * * * *

=ADVENTURE SERIES, THE.= Large 12mo. Fully Illustrated. $1.50 each volume.

=Adventures of a Younger Son.= By JOHN EDWARD TRELAWNY. With an Introduction by EDWARD GARNETT.

=Madagascar; or, Robert Drury's Journal= During Fifteen Years' Captivity on that Island, and a Further Description of Madagascar by the Abbé ALEXIS ROCHON. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Captain S. PASFIELD OLIVER, F.S.A., author of "Madagascar."

=Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp=, Late Lieutenant in His Majesty's 87th Regiment. Written by Himself. With an Introduction by Major H. M. CHICHESTER.

=The Adventures of Thomas Pellow=, of Penryn, Mariner, Twenty-three Years in Captivity among the Moors. Written by Himself; and Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Dr. ROBERT BROWN. Illustrated from Contemporaneous Prints.

=The Buccaneers and Marooners of America.= Being an Account of the Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Certain Notorious Freebooters of the Spanish Main. Edited and Illustrated by HOWARD PYLE.

=The Log of a Jack Tar; or, The Life of James Choyce, Master Mariner.= Now first published, with O'Brien's Captivity in France. Edited by Commander V. LOVETT CAMERON, R.N., C.B., D.C.L. With Introduction and Notes.

=The Story of the Filibusters.= By JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE. To which is added "The Life of Colonel David Crockett." With Illustrations.

"Mr. Roche has faithfully compared and sifted the statements of those who took part in the various expeditions, and he has also made effectual use of periodicals and official documents. The result is what may safely be regarded as the first complete and authentic account of the deeds of the modern Vikings, who continue to be wonderfully romantic figures even after the gaudy trappings of myth, prejudice, and fiction have been stripped away."--_Boston Beacon._

=The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the Portuguese.= Done into English by HENRY COGAN, with an Introduction by ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY.

"It is decidedly reading of the most attractive kind, brimful of adventure piquantly related, and of rare interest in its recital of the experienced of the author, who 'five times suffered shipwreck, was sixteen times sold, and thirteen times made a slave.'"--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette._

=A Master Mariner.= Being the Life and Adventures of Captain Robert William Eastwick. Edited by HERBERT COMPTON. With Illustrations.

=Hard Life in the Colonies, and Other Adventures by Sea and Land.= Now first printed. Compiled from Private Letters by C. CASLYON JENKYNS. With Illustrations. Large 12mo. $1.50.

=ÆSOP'S FABLES.= Illustrated. 50 cents.

=ANDERSEN= (HANS CHRISTIAN). =Fairy Tales and Sketches.= Translated by C. C. PEACHY, H. WARD, A. PLESNER, etc. With numerous Illustrations by OTTO SPECKTER and others. Seventh thousand. Handsomely bound. 12mo. $1.50.

"The translation most happily hits the delicate quaintness of Andersen--most happily transposes into simple English words the tender precision of the famous story-teller; in a keen examination of the book we scarcely recall a single phrase or turn that obviously could have been bettered."--_Daily Telegraph._

=Tales for Children.= With 48 Full-page Illustrations by WEHNERT, and 57 small Engravings on wood by W. THOMAS. Thirteenth thousand. Handsomely bound. 12mo. $1.50.

This volume contains several tales that are in no other edition published in this country, and with the preceding volume it forms the most complete English edition.

=ARIOSTO. Paladin and Saracen.= Stories from Ariosto. By W. C. HOLLWAY-CALTHROP. With Illustrations. $1.50.

=ATKINSON. The Last of the Giant Killers.= By the Rev. J. C. ATKINSON, author of "A Moorland Parish." _Shortly._

=AWDRY (F.). The Story of a Fellow Soldier.= A Life of Bishop Patteson for the Young. 16mo. $1.00.

=BAKER. Wild Beasts and Their Ways.= Reminiscences in Asia, Africa, and America. By Sir SAMUEL W. BAKER, F.R.S., etc., author of "Albert Nyanza," etc. With numerous Illustrations. Large 12mo. Cloth extra. Gilt. $3.50.

"A book which is destined not only to serve as a chart and compass for every hunter of big game, but which is likewise a valuable study of natural history, placed before the public in a practical and interesting form."--_New York Tribune._

=BEESLY= (Mrs.). =Stories from the History of Rome.= 16mo. 60 cents.

"Of all the stories we remember from history none have struck us as so genuinely good--with the right ring--as those of Mrs. Beesly."--_Educational Times._

=BERTZ= (E.). =The French Prisoners:= A Story for Boys. $1.25.

"Written throughout in a wise and gentle spirit, and omits no opportunity to deprecate war as a barbaric survival, wholly unnecessary in a civilized age."--_Independent._

"The story is an extremely interesting one, full of incident, told in a quiet, healthful way, and with a great deal of pleasantly interfused information about German and French boys."--_Christian Union._

=BUNCE= (J. T.). =Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning.= 16mo. 75 cents.

=CARPENTER. Truth in Tale.= Addresses Chiefly to Children. By W. BOYD CARPENTER, D.D., Bishop of Ripon. $1.00.

"These ingenious and interesting tales by Bishop Carpenter are full of poetic beauty and of religious truth.... We would like to see a copy in every Sunday-school library."--_Sunday School Banner._

=CARROLL.= WORKS BY LEWIS CARROLL.

=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.= With 42 Illustrations by TENNIEL. 12mo. $1.00.

A German Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

A French Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

An Italian Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

"An excellent piece of nonsense."--_Times._

"That most delightful of children's stories."--_Saturday Review._

"Elegant and delicious nonsense."--_Guardian._

=Through the Looking-glass and What Alice Found There.= 50 Illustrations by TENNIEL. 12mo. $1.00.

"Will fairly rank with the tale of her previous experience."--_Daily Telegraph._

"Many of Mr. Tenniel's designs are masterpieces of wise absurdity."--_Athenæum._

"Whether as regarding author or illustrator, this book is a jewel rarely to be found nowadays."--_Echo._

=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.= In 1 vol. With TENNIEL's Illustrations. 12mo. $1.25.

=Rhyme? and Reason?= With 65 Illustrations by ARTHUR B. FROST, and nine by HENRY HOLIDAY. 12mo. $1.50.

This book is a reprint, with additions, of the comic portions of "Phantasmagoria, and other Poems," and of the "Hunting of the Snark."

=A Tangled Tale.= Reprinted from the "Monthly Packet." With Illustrations. 12mo. $1.50.

=Alice's Adventures under Ground.= Being a Fac-simile of the original MS. Book afterward developed into "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." With 37 Illustrations. 12mo. $1.50.

=The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits.= By LEWIS CARROLL. With nine Illustrations by HENRY HOLIDAY. New Edition. 12mo. $1.00.

=Sylvie and Bruno.= With 46 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS. 12mo. $1.50.

"Alice was a delightful little girl, but hardly more pleasing than are the hero and heroine of this latest book from a writer in whose nonsense there is far more sense than in the serious works of many contemporary authors."--_Morning Post._

"Mr. Furniss's illustrations, which are numerous, are at once graceful and full of humor. We pay him a high compliment when we say he proves himself a worthy successor to Mr. Tenniel in illustrating Mr. Lewis Carroll's books."--_St. James Gazette._

=The Nursery "Alice."= Containing 20 coloured enlargements from TENNIEL's Illustrations to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," with Text adapted to Nursery Readers, by LEWIS CARROLL. 4to. $1.50.

"Let the little people rejoice! the most charming book in the world has appeared for them. 'The Nursery Alice,' with its wealth of colored illustrations from Tenniel's Pictures, is certainly the most artistic juvenile that has been seen for many and many a day."--_Boston Budget._

=CHURCH.= WORKS BY THE REV. A. J. CHURCH.

=The Story of the Iliad.= With Coloured Illustrations. 12mo. $1.00.

=The Story of the Odyssey.= With Coloured Illustrations. 12mo. $1.00.

=Stories from the Bible.= With Illustrations after JULIUS SCHNORR. 12mo. $1.50.

"Of all the books of this kind, this is the best we have seen."--_Examiner._

"The book will be of infinite value to the student or teacher of the Scriptures, and the stories are well arranged for interesting reading for children."--_Boston Traveller._

=Stories from Bible.= Illustrated. Second Series. _Shortly._

=The Greek Gulliver.= Stories from Lucian. With Illustrations by C. O. MURRAY. New edition. 16mo. Paper. 40 cents.

"A curious example of ancient humor."--_Chicago Standard._

=The Burning of Rome.= A Story of the Times of Nero. With Illustrations. 12mo. $1.00.

=CLIFFORD= (Mrs. W. K.). =Anyhow Stories, Moral and Otherwise.= With Illustrations. $1.00.

=CRAIK.= Works by MRS. CRAIK, author of "John Halifax, Gentleman."

=Sermons out of Church.= New Edition. 12mo. $1.75.

=Children's Poetry.= Globe 8vo. $1.25.

=The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak.= A Parable for Young and Old. With Illustrations. 12mo. $1.25.

=Little Sunshine's Holiday.= Globe 8vo. $1.00.

=Adventures of a Brownie.= With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.00.

=Alice Learmont.= A Fairy Tale. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.00.

=Our Year: a Child's Book.= Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.

=The Fairy Book.= The Best Popular Fairy Stories. Selected and rendered anew. _Golden Treasury Series._ 18mo. $1.25.

=DEFOE. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.= Edited from the Original Edition by HENRY KINGSLEY. _Globe Edition._ $1.25.

_Golden Treasury Series._ 18mo. $1.00.

=DE MORGAN. The Necklace of Princess Florimonde, and other Stories.= By MARY DE MORGAN. Illustrated by WALTER CRANE. New and cheaper Edition, cloth extra. $1.25.

"The stories display considerable originality, and Mr. Walter Crane's characteristic illustrations combine with Miss De Morgan's pretty fancies in forming a charming gift-book."--_Graphic._

"A real gem."--_Punch._

=ENGLISH MEN OF ACTION SERIES.= 12mo. Cloth, limp, 60 cents; cloth, uncut edges, 75 cents.

"An admirable set of brief biographies.... The volumes are small, attractive, and inexpensive."--_Dial._

"The 'English Men of Action' promises to be a notable series of short biographies. The subjects are well chosen, and the authors almost as well."--_Epoch._

=Gordon.= By Col. Sir W. BUTLER.

=Henry the Fifth.= By the Rev. A. J. CHURCH.

=Livingstone.= By THOMAS HUGHES.

=Lord Lawrence.= By Sir R. TEMPLE.

=Wellington.= By GEORGE HOOPER.

=Dampier.= By W. CLARK RUSSELL.

=Monk.= By JULIAN CORBETT.

=Strafford.= By H. D. TRAILL.

=Warren Hastings.= By Sir ALFRED LYALL, K.C.B.

=Peterborough.= By WILLIAM STEBBING.

=Captain Cook.= By WALTER BESANT.

=Havelock.= By ARCHIBALD FORBES.

=Clive.= By Col. Sir CHARLES WILSON.

=Drake.= By JULIAN CORBETT.

=Warwick, the King Maker.= By C. W. OMAN.

=Napier.= By Col. Sir WILLIAM BUTLER.

=Rodney.= By D. G. HANNAY.

=Montrose.= By MOWBRAY MORRIS. _Shortly._

=EWING= (J. H.). =We and the World.= A Story for Boys. By the late JULIANA HORATIO EWING. With seven Illustrations by W. L. Jones, and a Pictorial Design on the Cover. 4th Edition. 12mo. $1.00.