My uncle had brought himself into rather a troublesome office; he had
heard me spell so well, that he thought there was nothing to do but
to put books into my hand, and I should read; yet, notwithstanding
I spelt tolerably well, the letters in my new library were so much
smaller than I had been accustomed to, they were like Greek characters
to me; I could make nothing at all of them. The honest sailor was
not to be discouraged by this difficulty; though unused to play the
schoolmaster, he taught me to read the small print, with unwearied
diligence and patience; and whenever he saw my father and me look as
if we wanted to resume our visits to the grave, he would propose some
pleasant walk; and if my father said it was too far for the child to
walk, he would set me on his shoulder, and say, "Then Betsy shall
ride;" and in this manner has he carried me many many miles.

In these pleasant excursions my uncle seldom forgot to make Susan
furnish him with a luncheon which, though it generally happened every
day, made a constant surprise to my papa and me, when, seated under
some shady tree, he pulled it out of his pocket, and began to
distribute his little store; and then I used to peep into the other
pocket to see if there were not some currant wine there and the little
bottle of water for me; if, perchance, the water was forgot, then it
made another joke,--that poor Betsy must be forced to drink a little
drop of wine. These are childish things to tell of, and instead of my
own silly history, I wish I could remember the entertaining stories my
uncle used to relate of his voyages and travels, while we sate under
the shady trees, eating our noon-tide meal.

The long visit my uncle made us was such an important event in my
life, that I fear I shall tire your patience with talking of him; but
when he is gone, the remainder of my story will be but short.

The summer months passed away, but not swiftly;--the pleasant walks,
and the charming stories of my uncle's adventures, made them seem like
years to me; I remember the approach of winter by the warm great coat
he bought for me, and how proud I was when I first put it on, and that
he called me Little Red Riding Hood, and bade me beware of wolves, and
that I laughed and said there were no such things now; then he told me
how many wolves, and bears, and tygers, and lions he had met with in
uninhabited lands, that were like Robinson Crusoe's Island. O these
were happy days!

In