I was five years old the 21st of January, and I had such a happy birthday. In the morning when I got up I found at the foot of my crib six books of natural history full of pictures for little folks, a piano, a box of colors, and two dancing bears, one black and one brown. And when I went down to the dining-room, on my tray was a beautiful cup and saucer, and on the cup, in gold letters, "A Gift." And in my chair was a box with twenty-five things in it from my auntie Lou; and in the afternoon I had a tea party. I wish all little boys and girls had such happy birthdays. To-day I am sick, and I tell mamma just what to say, and she is writing it for me.
I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since Christmas, and I find it very nice indeed. I have a nice young uncle in Washington who sends it to me, and told me to write to you. I have a pony named Ben, who is only four feet and a half high, and is very wild sometimes, but I can ride him without either bridle or saddle.
I have a bird. It is a bullfinch. It is real pretty, and whistles like a boy. It likes potatoes and corn very much, and eats them out of my mouth and hand. When it whistles it says "Pretty Poll" just as plain as a parrot, and when it bathes it spatters me all over.
I want to tell you about a cat-bird or mocking-bird that built its nest in the tree near our house last summer. I have three brothers, and when we all go off to play, mamma could not always make us hear when she called. She bought a whistle, and when she blew it once, it was for me, and two, three, and four times for my brothers. The mocking-bird learned to imitate the whistle so well that we could not always tell whether it was mamma calling or the bird. It would also imitate the squeaks of the saw when the men were sawing wood. We hope it will come back again next spring.
I am a little girl nine years old, and take YOUNG PEOPLE, and I watch for it every week. I have three pets--two cats and one squirrel. The cats are twins; one is named Girofle, and the other Girofla. They were born on Palm-Sunday, and are nearly three years old. They are so much alike that you can not tell them apart. My squirrel's name is Prince.
I am a boy ten years old, and I have a cat older than myself. Its name is Noah. One day last summer it caught a rat in the yard as big as a half-grown kitten. The rat squealed so loud that a large Newfoundland dog at the store across the street heard it, and came running over to see what was the matter. The dog scared old Noah so much that it let the rat go, and ran under the shed. I think that dog better mind his own affairs hereafter, and let my old Noah catch rats.