hildren
will be to hear it). Gatty in mischief (when is she ever out of it?)
Schillie worked the most of all (and what has she got to do besides?)
Very merry tea (what a fib, when we have had no tea this month). Sybil
so amiable (yes, quite mawkishly so). Our dear captain (good me! what a
monody). The good Smart (perfect epitaphs over them all, pity they are
not in rhyme). Well, June, of all the nonsense I ever read your journal
seems the crown thereof."

_Mother._--"I don't pretend to write anything amusing, for how can I
with so few incidents; only I wished to keep a sort of journal."

_Schillie._--"It seems to me nothing but about the children, how they
were naughty and how they got good again. Why don't you write the
geological structure of the island, the botanical history, and a whole
account of the birds and beasts."

_Mother._--"That I leave for your abler head and pen."

_Schillie._--"Then it will never be done. I hate the place so much, I
would not record a single thing about it."

_Mother._--"If that is the case, leave my poor journal alone. I grant it
is everything you say, dull, stupid, and monotonous, nevertheless, I
have a fancy to keep it."

_Schillie._--"Then, pray, indulge your fancy, and, in addition to
keeping your journal, keep it locked up, for it is quite enough to
endure all the children's twaddle, without writing it down."

My spinning-wheel answered remarkably well; but all my spinning was of
little avail, as we had no idea of weaving. Schillie promised if she was
not bothered by having to build more houses, she would try her hand at
inventing a weaving machine the next rainy season. Luckily my yarn or
thread was as coarse as needs be, and answered very well for crocheting
and knitting. In both these arts we became wonderfully skilful; sewed
crochet boots and shoes, while others knitted petticoats and jackets, so
that we were in no particular fear that when our present clothes failed
we should become a tribe of white savages. The children grew like the
vegetation, and Gatty stalked over the ground like a young Patagonian.
We had no lack of food, though we had neither beef or mutton, but
poultry, birds, fish, eggs, and turtle, with innumerable vegetables and
fruits, were surely enough for our simple party. In the midst of our
many avocations, sighs and tears would arise for those we loved; neither
could the the affection we bore each other, and the peaceful, useful,
and happy lives we le