One day we thought we would name the eleven chickens, as Mater could not name them herself; and, since then, we know them each and all, and just how they behave.  Annie and Mary are two sober-looking little creatures, in quakerish feathers of drab and grey.  Nat is a white crower, with beautiful soft feathers, and a long graceful black tail.  Louise has a shaded dress of grey and white, and is almost as modest and gentle as Luca.  Hannah is a little bantam, with tufted head and large eyes, the smallest but the sprightliest of the family:  she always tumbles in amongst the rest, and gets the first taste of every thing; and her mother allows her to do it.  One of them, named Lise, a white one, came in the other morning, just as we had finished breakfast; and, seeing many things spread out to eat, she flew up to the back of a chair, and, perching herself there, surveyed the whole table, and was very unwilling to get down.  At length, getting a little alarmed at our efforts to teach her better, she pounced directly down amidst the cups and dishes, putting her foot into a saucer of tea, and making a great commotion in her fright.  Two, named George and John, are trying to learn to crow.  Little Mary hears the large hens cackle, and you would laugh loud to hear her try to imitate them.  They are having warm, new dresses made for them; so they let the summer ones blow about in the breeze for any little girls who want them, particularly kind and neat and useful little maidens, who love to dust their mother’s books, picture frames, and flower baskets.

If I can send you another brush, my little friend, you must imagine neat little Louise, Annie and Mary, gentle Luca and handsome Donna, sending their best love and kind wishes, and inviting you to come some summer’s day, to see them eat their dinner, and run about with them in the green meadows.  So, my darling, good bye.  Perhaps, before you come to see us, Luca may be a little mother, with a brood of pretty downy children, following all around her.

Kisses and love from your friend,
F. E. H.

(From the “Child’s Friend.”)

* * * * *

If any child wishes to know how to be neat and orderly, here, to teach them, is the example of

LITTLE PINK.

On a swinging little shelf
  Were some pretty little books;
  And I reckoned from their looks,
That the darling little elf,
    Whose they were,
Was the careful, tidy girl,
With her auburn hair a-curl.

In a little chest of drawers,
  Every thing was nice and prim,
  And was always kept so trim,
That her childish little stores,
    Books or toys,
In good order could be found,—­
Never careless thrown around.

And she laid her bonnet by,
  When she hastened home from school;
  For it was her constant rule,—­
And she was resolved to try,
    School or home,
How to prove the saying true,—­
“Order in all things you do.”