Various

“ Almost every day now brought surprises. One of the largest of them was connected with Susie Decker. That young woman from the very first had shown a commendable interest in everything pertaining to the business. She patiently did errands for it, in all sorts of weather, and was always ready to dust shelves, arrange cookies without eating so much as a bite, and even wipe teaspoons, a task which she used to think beneath her. “If you can’t trust me with things that would smash,” she used to say with scornful gravity, to Nettie, “then you can’t expect me to be willing to wipe those tough spoons.” ”

“ Susie, perched on a high chair in front of the table, was counting a large pile of pennies, putting them in heaps of twenty-five cents each. She waited until her fourth heap was complete, then looked up. “Why don’t you ask me to go?”
“Sure enough!” said Nettie, laughing, “I’d ‘ask’ you in a minute if it didn’t rain so hard; but it seems a pretty stormy day to send out a little chicken like you.”
“I’m not a chicken, and I’m not in the leastest bit afraid of rain; I can go as well as not if you only think so.” ”

“ What a pity she did not realize that beauty of mind, kindness of heart, nobleness of character, and above all, the true Christian spirit, were much more to be desired than anything so frail and perishable as human beauty. Never, in any reign, has England known such pomp and splendor as in Elizabeth’s time. ”

“ Farley, laughing, yet with an undertone of disapproval in her voice which keen-minded Susie heard and felt, “I shouldn’t think that was a necessity of life on such a day as this.”
“It is if you have promised it to some boys who don’t ever have anything nice only what they get at our house; and who save their pennies that they spend on beer, and cider, and cigars to get it.” ”

“ So she hurried; but Jerry was mistaken. The squall came with all its force, and poor small Susie was twisted and whirled and lost her breath almost, and panted and struggled on, and was only too thankful that she hadn’t the molasses jug.
Nearly opposite the Farley home, their side door suddenly opened and a pleasant voice called: “Little girl, come in here, and wait until the shower is over; you will be wet to the skin.” ”

“ Literary Life, after saying that “Wide Awake is the best monthly magazine for young folks published in the country,” goes on to say of it, “Next to watching Nature herself, it is the finest educational work we ever have seen for children. A child made happy by such a work will possess an intelligence and richness of mind beyond the mere range of school lessons.” We do indeed confidently trust that should you direct your classes to our magazines, you will find them a good means of preparation of hearts and minds for your own important work. ”

“ I do not understand what has made the difference.”
“I can explain it,” said another, “there’s an influence going out from that front corner room of the Vinton homestead which has power to revolutionize hearts and lives and to build up families; when the Rutgers first came they fell under that influence, and it is this which has made the difference. I suppose a small sum would cover all the money Miss Vinton expended for the family, but there is a great deal in doing things at the right time and in giving your money and sympathy when most needed.” ”

“ The works issued in this library are uniformly of a high standard and may well come under that class of literature styled “home fiction,” a literature, that, while free from the flashy, sensational effect of much of the fiction of to-day, is, nevertheless, brilliant in style, fresh and strong in action, and of absorbing interest. It is a class that all the young folks, as well as the fathers and mothers and older brothers and sisters, may read with profit as well as great pleasure. ”

“ Mamma says she thinks it might do grown people good to belong to a Pansy Society. We have a great many of your books in our home. Mamma gets a new one every year; we lend them to people to read. I hope I have not tired you with my letter.
Yours, truly and lovingly,
Blanche Perkins.
Dear Pansy:
We are two little brothers away down in Va. We have taken The Pansy for four years. We like it more and more, and we love you very much. We have two bad habits. We don’t keep things in place and we dispute with each other. We found a bumblebee’s house in a part of an old barn. ”

“ We can very cordially praise the new Wide Awake Art Prints. They are wholly charming, and the idea of their publication is unique and entitled to frank commendation. We could wish that such charming gems of art could be in every home, for wherever they are they will not only be a source of very great pleasure but they have a very important educational value.—Boston Post. ”

“ Farley because she said not a word about the peck of apples or the other chicken, was met by Jerry coming in search of her. The molasses was boiling over, he told her, and so was her mother, with anxiety lest the wind had taken her, Susie, up in a tree, and had forgotten to bring her down again. He hurried her home between the squalls, and Susie quietly resolved to say not a word about all the things she had told at the Farley home. What if Nettie should think she hadn’t been womanly to talk so much about what they were doing! ”

“ A “treasurer” is a very important officer in the P. S., my boy, provided they have any money to care for; and most of the societies have. They contrive ways of earning money, to spend in benevolent work of some sort. It depends entirely on yourselves how you will raise money, to what you will devote it, and how you will manage your society. As a rule, the one who secures subscribers and starts a club, becomes president; but if he, or she, thinks some other person would make a better officer, one can be elected from the membership. ”

“ A little farther on is another gateway, and building, called the Puerto del Vino; it formerly contained a Mihrab, or Moorish chapel.
From the high terrace near these two gates is a lovely view across the deep ravine to the Sierra Nevada, always slightly touched with snow, and taking on beautiful lights, according to the time of day: dark blue in the morning, and, as evening approaches, roseate; for in addition to the sunset tints, the natural color of the soil and stone make the tone of the range warm and rich. ”

“ Granny has lived in that little house forty years; if she were turned out now, she would not know what to do. She has not a relative in the world.”
“Let’s do it! We can get the money, somehow, I know!” said one of the boys. “I suppose Major Grimes thinks he will get the cottage into his own hands, for little or nothing, but we will show him the Industry Band mean business!”
“If we cannot raise the money in two months I am sure we can find somebody who will advance it and hold the mortgage as security until we can pay it,” said Lou.
“O Lou! what a business head you have on your shoulders!” ”

“ The [5] girls are sewing dresses for the little orphans who are found; they have hardly any clothes to cover them when they are found. Our Sunday-school teacher has taken a great deal of interest in our society. She has given us twenty-three books, and a great many cards. We have learned a good many missionary hymns from the cards. We have a library of sixty-three books; and a friend is going to give us some more. We meet every Saturday at my house; we are going to use our money to help provide schools for little colored children. There are about thirty members of our society. ”

“ With the firm conviction that ultimate success would attend their efforts, they have employed the pens of scores of those who have shared their convictions, including some of the best-known authors at home and abroad, and have sent out an ever-increasing stream of pure, attractive, and instructive literature, which has reached every part of the land, and made their name famous everywhere. ”

“ Some of the most unhappy persons I ever met, had plenty of money. What they needed was sympathy, and a few gentle, helpful words.
Carrie from Indian Territory. My dear Blossom, struggling with your little garden away off from us, how glad we were to hear from you! It is the same old story, though, which we hear from all over the country; cross little tongues, speaking words that hurt, and for which they are sorry afterwards, and all because Dame Passion gets hold of them, and for the time makes them her slaves! Little Pixie too has her troubles. It is very hard not to be selfish ”

“ If you “do your duty in all things as long as you live,” you will be sure to be one of whom I can be always proud. I should like to hear from you often; and will always be glad to receive from you the history of some of your “kind words” spoken for Jesus’ sake.
Walter from New York. It was a grand idea to join us on your birthday. I think the “lessons” must have felt the influence of that pledge. To be as good a boy as one can, is promising a great deal, but not too much if one is in tremendous earnest, as I think you are. ”

“ How did they get the money to buy their things? Susie, thoroughly posted, thoroughly in sympathy with the entire movement, calm, collected, keen far beyond her years, answered clearly and well. Plainly she saw that this lady in a silken gown was interested.
“Well, if this isn’t a revelation!” said Mrs. Farley at last. “A young men’s Christian association not only, but an eating-house flourishing right in our midst and we knowing nothing about it. ”

“ One day, long afterward, when Gretchen had grown to be a young lady and Carl was studying in the High School, some one remarked, “How that family have risen in the world! It is only a few years since they came here, poor and friendless, now they have a home and circle of friends. There’s the Ketlers who came over at the same time. They have not prospered nearly so well; the children have grown up in comparative ignorance. ”

“ Just then, my aunt Martha, who was grandfather’s housekeeper, said, as she looked from the window, ‘There comes Priscilla with three lighted candles in her hands; how often I have told that child not to carry three candles at once! Run, Ruthie dear, and open the door for her; she will burn herself, or set the house on fire.’
“But ‘Ruthie’ did not run. I sat as still as a stone. ‘Ruth!’ said my grandfather, astonished, while my cousin Stephen laid aside his book, and went toward the door: ‘I can’t open doors for her!’ I burst forth; ‘not if she burns herself up! ”

“ The poor thing’s mother will not own it, and unless you feed it it will die.’ Aunt Mary showed me how to feed it, and it grew; and before I came away it was a big lamb. I used to feed it with a spoon out of a bowl, and I grew real fond of it. The other day uncle John wrote to me that he was going to sell all his flock, and that he was sorry, but he thought he must sell my lamb too. He is going to Florida next winter, and there would be no one at the farm who could take care of it, so he sent me five dollars! You can’t think how glad I was; I knew right away that Jesus had answered my prayer. ”

“ Still, she loves to read them. Mamma and I think they are ever so nice. I won’t let Pixie have my Pansies because I want to keep them nice; she says mamma ought to subscribe for her. I hope she will grow better as she grows older; she is very young. Now my brother Tippie, he wants to join us; he is so contrary, he don’t know what to do. But mamma says he isn’t contrary with anybody but Pixie and me. Please let me have a letter of my own from you.
I am your little eight-year-old
Cherokee Blossom.
Dear Pansy:
I like our magazine very much. ”

“ This beautiful and instructive set of minerals will be sent to any subscriber to one of our magazines who will send us one new subscriber to The Pansy, or Our Little Men and Women, or for two new subscribers to Babyland. We will send three of the Cabinets to any subscriber who will send us one new subscriber to Wide Awake.
Young people are born naturalists. Their first inquiries are in regard to the attractive objects of nature around them; and their future mental activity—or stupidity—depends largely upon the answers they receive. ”

“ I have seen some young people whose gravest fault seemed to me to be that they cared very little about improving their habits, or getting control of their tongues or tempers. I welcome you as one who is not of that company. ”

“ For you have done more than the teacher sometimes,” he frankly added.
George Edward tried to protest, but it was no use. “Don’t be discouraged,” added the teacher kindly, “if prizes do not fall to you now; but keep on.”
“I should have liked to carry one home to father and mother,” said George Edward honestly.
“Of course; who of us does not?” assented Mr. Bryan. “Let me tell you though, my boy, that the prizes, though late often, that fall to industry and conscientious work, are better worth getting. ”

“ To Sunday-school Teachers:—
Ladies and Gentlemen,—Because we know that to you it is, and should be, largely entrusted to advise our young people in regard to their reading, because you are powerful guardians of “literature for the young,” we invite you to examine the periodicals we publish monthly for children and young folks: Wide Awake, The Pansy, Our Little Men and Women, and Babyland. ”

“ These magazines are in the watchful and trained care of their original editors, and the same purity, strength, and sparkle characterize each number from month to month, from year to year. The highest order of fiction, the most inspiring, lifting, and refining poetry, the most instructive lessons in history and natural science, the most entertaining records of travel and adventure, the finest literary and biographical articles, appear in their pages. The Congregationalist said last week of Wide Awake, that it “sets its readers to thinking for themselves along many different lines. ”