No. 33 can be furnished by the Messrs. Harper & Brothers, but not the earlier numbers of YOUNG PEOPLE. Possibly some little reader may have duplicates; and if so, will he or she notify the Postmistress on John's behalf?
I thought I would write you a little letter to put in Our Post-office Box. I have a little candy store in my papa's office all my own. I pay for the candy, and have all the profits. It is vacation now, but I study at home. This village (Windham) is situated on an elevation of over one thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea. Papa has one hundred and fifty-five hives of bees, and I am going to help him take care of them. We carefully take the comb out of the hives, put it in a revolving cylinder, turn the crank, and the honey flies out of the comb against the side of the cylinder; then it is strained, and is ready for use. Then we replace the comb for the bees to refill again. This we do several times in a season.
So you are a merchant, dear, and carry on a business all alone. Well, I hope you keep your accounts with care, and that you will put your earnings to some good use. Your description of the bees, and the way their honey is extracted from the comb, is very interesting.
Where the blackbird sings the latest, Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest, Where the nestlings chirp and flee, That's the way for Willie and me.
Where the mowers mow the cleanest, Where the hay lies thick and greenest, There to track the homeward bee, That's the way for Willie and me.
I am a little boy seven years old. My name is Early. My mamma, my sister Hattie (who is eight years old), and I spend our summers out here on grandpa's farm. I have a pony to ride; his name is Brigham. I made $1.45 carrying water for grandpa's hands in harvest; had two demijohns slung across the pony in front of the saddle. I have a goat and wagon, but Billy is so big and strong that he runs away, and dumps me in the ditch. I have two dogs, Nip and Aleck. Aleck is a shepherd dog; Nip is a little fellow, but he runs awful fast when he gets after a rabbit. I have lots of fun out here--so many peaches and apples, and lots of young ducks and chickens. Papa comes out every Saturday evening, and we go to the train to meet him. We have such a nice Sunday-school in the little district school-house right at the corner of our orchard. We go up there to Sunday-school in the afternoon, and have such nice songs to sing. Hattie picked two gallons of dewberries, sold them for forty cents, and gave the money to help pay for the organ. I want papa to let me be a farmer and stay in the country all the time, but we will go back to the city in September, when the schools open. We had a nice picnic and "fish-fry" on the Fourth at the Maramec River, near here; waded in the cool clear water, and gathered so many mussel shells; rowed in the boat, made pawpaw whistles, and had lots of fun.