Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-07-16
What all the Family Said.

What did all the family say? Well,
first hear what little Mary said.
1t was little Mary's birthday, the incest
of all days. thought she. All her little
boy and girl friends came to play with
her, and she had her best frock on. 1t had
been given her by her grandmother, who
was with the good God but grandmother
had cut it out and made it up herself be-
fore she went up into the shining, beauti-
full sky. The table in Mary's room shone
with presents there was the neatest little
kitchen, with everything that belongs to a
kitchen, and dolly that could turn its
eyes about and say ow "wheu one squeez-
ed its waist; yes, and there was picture
book, too, with the most lovely stories to
read-if one only could read. But nicer
than all stories it surely must be to live
for many birthdays!
I" Yes it is delightful to live !" said lit
tie Mary. Godfather said, too, that it
was the most beautiful fairy-tale.
In the next room were both the broth
ers they were big boys, one of them nine,
aud the other eleven. They, too, thought
that it was fine to live-to live in their
own way not to be children like Mary ;
no, but active schoolboys 4; to have "excel-
lent in their report book, and to be able
to fight with their school fellows, all iu
good part; to race on skates in the winter.
time, and on velocipedes in the Summer
to read about castles, draw-bridges. and
dungeons to hear about discoveries in the
interior of Africa. One anxiety, how
ever, one of the boys had on that point
namely, lest everything should be discov.
cred before he was grown up; for he SC
wanted to be the hero of tale. Life is
the most beautiful tairy-tale, as godfather
said, and one comes in it ones self, too.
This was in the room where these child.
rem lived and played above it there lived
another branch of the family, also with
children, but these latter had quite said
good-by to childhood, SO big were they
one son was seventeen years old, another
twenty, and the third was very old, said
little Mary; he was fve-and-twenty, and
engaged" They were all happily situa
ted they had good parents, good clothes
good Intellectual gifts, and they were fol-
doing just as they liked. Forward
away with all the old boundaries fire,
outlook into the whole world - that is tn,
finest sight we know of. Godfather il
right. Life is the most beautiful tale"
Father and mother, both elderly folk
naturally they must be older than tn.
children-they said, with smile on tn,
lips, a smile in eye and heart. "Hov
young they are-the young people! Tit
world does not 60 quite as they think but
it does 60. Life is strange beautiful
tale"
Over them, little nearer the sky, az
folks say of people who live in the attics
dwelt godfather. Old he was, and yet 81
young in thought, always in good hume,
and he could tell stories, too, many and
long ones. He had been far into the
world, and pretty things from all countries
of the earth stood in his room. There
were pictures from the roof to the floor
and many of the window panes wereof RED
and yellow glass; if one looked through
them, the whole world lay in sunshine
however gloomy the weather was outside
In large glass case there grew greer
plants, and in a partition inside it swan
goldfish they looked at one just as il
they knew ever so much that they did moi
care to talk about. There was always q
scent of flowers here, even in winter-time,
and then big FIRE used to burn in the FIRE
place. 1t was 30 pleasant 70 sit and look