. They
had a wonderful, wise father, who knew stories to tell, and who taught
them their lessons in such a beautiful way that it was better than play;
they had a lovely, merry, kind mother, who was never too tired to help
them work or watch them play; and they had all the great green country
to play in. There were dark, shadowy woods, and fields of flowers, and a
river. And there was a big barn.

One of the little girls was named Louisa. She was very pretty, and ever
so strong; she could run for miles through the woods and not get tired.
She had a splendid brain in her little head; it liked study, and it
thought interesting thoughts all day long.

Louisa liked to sit in a corner by herself, sometimes, and write
thoughts in her diary; all the little girls kept diaries. She liked to
make up stories out of her own head, and sometimes she made verses.

When the four little sisters had finished their lessons, and had helped
their mother wash up and sew, they used to go to the big barn to play;
and the best play of all was theatricals. Louisa liked theatricals
better than anything.

They made the barn into a theatre, and the grown-up people came to see
the plays they acted. They used to climb up on the hay-loft for a stage,
and the grown people sat in chairs on the floor. It was great fun. One
of the plays they acted was _Jack and the Beanstalk_. They had a ladder
from the floor to the loft, and on the ladder they tied a vine all the
way up to the loft, to look like the wonderful beanstalk. One of the
little girls was dressed up to look like Jack, and she acted that part.
When it came to the place in the story where the giant tried to follow
Jack, the little girl cut down the beanstalk, and down came the giant
tumbling from the loft. The giant was made out of pillows, with a great,
fierce head of paper, and funny clothes.

Another story that they acted was _Cinderella_. They made a wonderful
big pumpkin out of the wheelbarrow, trimmed with yellow paper, and
Cinderella rolled away in it, when the fairy godmother waved her wand.

One other beautiful story they used to play. It was the story of
_Pilgrim's Progress_; if you have never heard it, you must be sure to
read it as soon as you can read well enough to understand the
old-fashioned words. The little girls used to put shells in their hats
for a sign they were on a pilgrimage, as the old pilgrims used to do;
then they made journeys over the hill behind the house, and t