The Little Nightcap Letters

"Really, and truly, I found it broke; but we made believe that she broke it because she is so ugly.

"Dolly has been very naughty. She fighted with sister's Kitty, and Kitty tore all the lace off her cap. Kitty slapped her first. Then sister Edith told dolly and Kitty about 'dogs delight to bark and bite,' and dolly was so sorry, and Kitty too; and they never mean to do so any more – never – sister Edith mended the cap, and she is good now – next time papa brings me candy, I will give her a big piece – only pretend, you know – for her mouth can't open like mine, it is all shut up tight – what a pity! Oh mamma! I want to see you so much, I don't know what to do. Why can't the postman bring you home? Oh mamma, I can't wait any longer."

Here poor little Bella began to cry; and her papa thought her letter was long enough, and that the little thing was tired, as well as grieved. So he folded up the letter, and took Bella upon his knee, and kissed her, and wiped away her tears, and said: "My darling little pet, would you like to hear a story that I know?"

"Oh yes, papa," said Bella, lifting her head from his breast, and smiling: though a great tear still trembled on her long lashes, "I love a story."

"And I love you," said her papa; "so here it is."

PAPA'S STORY

THE DINNER PARTY

"Once upon a time, there lived a little girl, named Edith. She was a dear good little puss, and that was the reason everybody loved her. Don't you think it was a very good reason?"

"Yes, papa," said Bella; and she squeezed her soft cheek lovingly against him, and he gave her a little hug; and then they went on again quite comfortable with the story.

"Well, one day her papa said to her mamma, 'My dear, I shall not be home to-day to dinner; but what shall I order for yours?'

"'Well, dear,' she answered, 'I think one beef-steak, and some green peas, and potatoes, will do for Edith and me; and the cook shall make a poor man's pudding, with raisins in it; that will be a very nice little dinner.'

"'If I see any thing very nice, I will send that too.'

"'Very well.' Then Edith's papa kissed all the family. It did not take him very long, for he had only Edith and her mamma for a family at that time; and then he went away.

"Pretty soon after, Edith said: 'Mamma, will you please to let me go next door, and play with Annie, and Mary?'

"'Yes, dear,' answered her mother; 'but do not forget to come home at five o'clock to dinner.'

"Edith promised to come, and then skipped joyfully off – with her best doll, Miss Polly Dolly Adeline, and two big apples to play 'party' with, and in a few minutes her mother thought there must be at least twenty children next door, instead of three; for they were having such a good time that they made noise enough to frighten the crows into fits, if any crows happened that way.

"As her mother was sitting at her sewing, some one knocked at the door, and who should come in, but the fat cook, with a great goose, fatter than she was; who cried out: 'Only see what a big goost, mum; and only you and Miss Edith to eat it; besides a beef-steak to brile, and peas and potatoes.'

"'Dear me,' said her mistress, 'we could not eat a quarter of that goose. Save it for to-morrow, Mrs. Jellybag. Only cook the beef-steak and vegetables; and make a poor man's pudding, with raisins, for dessert; that will do nicely.' So the fat cook put the fat goose carefully away in the refrigerator; then she shelled enough peas for a small dish, and peeled about a dozen potatoes, and prepared the raisins for the pudding, and had them all nicely done in time.

"When five o'clock came, the bell rang for dinner, and Edith's mother went down, and took her seat at the table.

"Just then she heard a whole chorus of merry little voices, and to her great surprise, in marched Edith, and seven little girls after her! They were all nearly of the same size, with their hair braided in two tails apiece, as fine as you please.

"'Why, Edith!!' exclaimed her mother.

"'Yes, mamma,' said Edith, 'I told them to come in and get some dinner, and some nice poor man's pudding, with raisins in it; they are Annie's and Mary's cousins. They are real nice, and we are having such fun!'

"You see Edith had no idea that her mother would not like her bringing the little girls in to dine with her; she did not mean to do wrong; and her eyes glittered so brightly with pleasure at having so many friends, that her mamma burst out laughing; and then Edith and all the children giggled in such a funny way, that I do believe if the Mayor of New York could have seen their happy faces, he would have given his best wig, to have such pleasant people at his dinner parties.

"And now the children began to stare at the beef-steak with hungry eyes; and Edith's mother thought it grew smaller and smaller, and was afraid if she gave each one a piece, they would swallow the whole of it at once like a pill. Dear me! how she did wish the goose had been cooked; but there was no help for it now: so seven extra plates were set, like buttons round the table, and seven extra knives and forks were laid across like button holes, and seven extra goblins (as little Edith called the 'goblets') stared down at the plates, and seven extra chairs were rattled up and scratched up to the table, by the children themselves, because the waiting-maid was almost crazy with so much company; and down they sat in a prodigious hurry, and the dinner began.

"Such a famous dinner as it was! Perfectly delicious. If there had only been a little more of it. But never mind, the knives and forks rattled merrily, and the children laughed, and the two long braids of hair on each head flew right and left so fast, that the flies couldn't get near the table to taste of a thing, and were almost distracted when they saw every single crumb eaten up, and the plates nearly scraped into holes.

"Here is the portrait of the cook as she looked when the waiter brought the beef-steak dish.

"But when the poor man's pudding came in, smoking like a Turk, and speckled in every direction with great black raisins, oh! then was the time for bright looks! and when one little girl clapped her hands, and exclaimed, 'My! that looks good!' all the rest laughed, and whisked their heads round so, that it was quite fortunate their braids were fast at one end, or they would have been shaken off up the chimney, and out of the door, and nobody knows where else.

"The best thing was, that there was plenty of pudding, and the children thought it was the very nicest they had ever eaten, particularly as the maid brought to each one the bowl of powdered sugar – so that they might help themselves to as much as they liked —that made a great difference, I can tell you! and they showered down the sugar in grand style – they put it on good and thick, just as much sugar as pudding, and that was what made it so very nice; besides, Edith had whispered to her mamma to give the company 'all the raisinest parts!! because that was the way to be polite to company,' and so her mother did – and they had a grand time picking out the raisins to eat by themselves – and the little spoons went so fast, chopping at the pudding, and clicking on the plates, that Edith's mother said it sounded like little stone-cutters at work – at which they grew perfectly red in their faces laughing at themselves.

"Didn't they have a fine time? I think so – and I laughed very much – oh! – I mean, Edith's papa laughed, when he came home and heard about the grand dinner-party, all out of one small beef-steak, and a poor man's pudding. There! how do you like that story?"

"Oh, papa! I know," exclaimed Bella, laughing, and patting his cheek. "I found you out! it was sister Edith! wasn't it? Dear me! what a funny girl! Did you ever!"

"Yes, it was her, and she was a funny girl – and you are a little darling – and now, kiss papa, and run off to bed."

FIFTH LETTER

"A letter for Miss Bella Curtis; two cents!" bawled the postman.

He was in a hurry this time, and Bella had to run so fast for the money, that it was quite a wonder that she did not get thin after it – only she laughed, too, just as much – and perhaps that may be the reason.

She began to feel as if she was quite a big woman, to be giving the postman so much business to do; and she carried her new letter in great state to her sister, and listened to the reading of it with all her heart and both her ears.

It began thus: —

    "Savannah.

"Dear, Darling Bella:

"I was perfectly delighted with your funny little letter, telling me all the news about your party, and dolly, and Kitty.

"I am now in Savannah. It is a most beautiful city, and the people in it are very good and kind. The evening before I left Charleston, a lady came to see me, bringing with her a dear little boy who looked and acted just like Stanny. I told him the story of 'Little Red Ridinghood,' and I thought his eyes would pop out of his head when the wolf eat her up. You see, I growled and snapped my teeth, just like a wolf.

"Then I drew him a picture of the wolf in a bob-tailed coat, talking to Little Red Ridinghood in the wood; and I made him a paper fly-cage, and a paper windmill.

"He looked at them very much pleased, and said: 'But – say – I don't know which to give to my little brother.'

"I laughed, for I saw that he wanted them all himself, and yet loved his little brother so much that he wanted to give them to him, so I said: 'If you will kiss me and call me "Aunt Fanny," I will make some for him, too.'

"Then he put his arms round my neck, and kissed me so hard, that it made his dear little nose quite flat for a moment, and said: 'Thank you, Mrs. Aunt Fanny;' and I made him another picture, and cage, and windmill, and then he was delighted.

"There are two beautiful little children in this house, who are twins, because they came into this world at the very same time. They are each six years old – a boy and a girl.

"I asked Richard where he came from? He said: 'Why, don't you know? Sally and I were dug up from under a cotton tree.' Wasn't that funny?

"Then his mamma said: 'Richard, sing "Morning's ruddy beams, in the Eastern sky,"' and he shouted out —

"'Morning's ready beams
Eascum eascum skri,'

then stopped, and giving one eye a queer little twist, said: 'How does that suit you?' In the afternoon the children went to a party, and Richard brought home an orange for his mother, and said: 'I'm going to save this for your Christmas present,' which sounded very funny as Christmas was eight months off.

"The next morning we had flannel cakes for breakfast. Really, and truly, they are made of eggs, milk, and flour; but just for fun I pretended to be astonished, and exclaimed: 'Flannel Cakes! Dear me! who ever heard of such a thing? Why, Richard, what are they made of? Flannel?'