this, and this, and this?
Did you have a pussy like my little Kate?
Did you go to bed when the clock struck eight?
Did you have long curls and beads like mine?
And a new silk apron, with ribbons fine?"
Grandmamma smiled at the little maid,
And laying aside her knitting, she said:
"Go to my desk and a red box you'll see;
Carefully lift it and bring it to me."
So Mary put her dollies away and ran,
Saying, "I'll be as careful as ever I can."
Then grandmamma opened the box: and lo!
A beautiful child with a throat like snow,
Lips just tinted like pink shells rare,
Eyes of hazel and golden hair,
Hands all dimpled, and teeth like pearls--
Fairest and sweetest of little girls!
"Oh, who is it?" cried winsome May;
"How I wish she was here to-day!
Wouldn't I love her like everything,
And give her my new carnelian ring!
Say, dear grandmamma, who can she be?"
"Darling," said grandmamma, "that child was me!"
[Illustration: AN AFTERNOON CALL ON GRANDMOTHER]
May looked along at the dimpled grace,
And then at the saint-like, fair old face,
"How funny!" she cried, with a smile and a kiss,
"To have such a dear little grandma as this!
Still," she added, with a smiling zest,
"I think, dear grandma, I like you best!"
So May climbed on the silken knee,
And grandma told her her history--
What plays she played, what toys she had,
How at times she was naughty, or good, or sad.
"But the best thing you did," said May, "don't you see?
Was to grow a beautiful grandma for me!"
THANKSGIVING DAY
BY LYDIA MARIA CHILD
Over the river and through the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the wood--
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Hear the bells ring,
"Ting-a-ling-ding!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river and throu
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