“Oh!  I think the weather is just perfect.  The sun set gloriously this evening and the sky was the brightest blue.”

“I think the day was what I call a weather breeder.  Whenever you see such days this time of year, you may look out for falling weather.  I [expect?] that it will snow soon.”

“How that child grows,” said Mrs. Larkins, as Annette entered the room.

“Ill weeds grow apace; she has nothing else to do.  That girl is going to give her grandmother a great deal of trouble.”

“Oh!  I do not think so.”

“Well, I do, and I told her grandmother so one day, but she did not thank me for it.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“I didn’t do it for thanks; I did it just to give her a piece of my mind about that girl.  She is the most mischievous and worrisome child I ever saw.  The partition between our houses is very thin and many a time when I want to finish my morning sleep or take an afternoon nap, if Mrs. Harcourt is not at home, Annette will sing and recite at the top of her voice and run up and down the stairs as if a regiment of soldiers were after her.”

“Annette is quite young, full of life and brimful of mischief, and girls of that age I have heard likened to persimmons before they are ripe; if you attempt to eat them they will pucker your mouth, but if you wait till the first frost touches them they are delicious.  Have patience with the child, act kindly towards her, she may be slow in developing womanly sense, but I think that Annette has within her the making of a fine woman.”

“Do you know what Annette wants?”

“Yes, I know what she wants; but what do you think she wants?”

“She wants kissing.”

“I’d kiss her with a switch if she were mine.”

“I do not think it wise to whip a child of her age.”

“I’d whip her if she were as big as a house.”

“I do not find it necessary with my Laura; it is sufficient to deter her from doing anything if she knows that I do not approve of it.  I have tried to establish perfect confidence between us.  I do not think my daughter keeps a secret from me.  I think many young persons go astray because their parents have failed to strengthen their characters and to forewarn and forearm them against the temptations and dangers that surround their paths.  How goes the battle?” said Mrs. Lasette, turning to Mr. Thomas.

“I am still at sea, and the tide has not yet turned in my favor.  Of course, I feel the change; it has taken my life out of its accustomed channel, but I am optimist enough to hope that even this change will result in greater good to the greatest number.  I think one of our great wants is the diversification of our industries, and I do not believe it would be wise for the parents to relax their endeavors to give their children the best education in their power.  We cannot tell what a race can do till it utters and expresses itself, and I know that there is an amount