haps that may be the reason.

She began to feel as if she was quite a big woman, to be giving the
postman so much business to do; and she carried her new letter in great
state to her sister, and listened to the reading of it with all her
heart and both her ears.

It began thus:--

"+SAVANNAH.+

"DEAR, DARLING BELLA:

"I was perfectly delighted with your funny little letter, telling me all
the news about your party, and dolly, and Kitty.

"I am now in Savannah. It is a most beautiful city, and the people in it
are very good and kind. The evening before I left Charleston, a lady
came to see me, bringing with her a dear little boy who looked and
acted just like Stanny. I told him the story of 'Little Red Ridinghood,'
and I thought his eyes would pop out of his head when the wolf eat her
up. You see, I growled and snapped my teeth, just like a wolf.

"Then I drew him a picture of the wolf in a bob-tailed coat, talking to
Little Red Ridinghood in the wood; and I made him a paper fly-cage, and
a paper windmill.

[Illustration]

"He looked at them very much pleased, and said: 'But--say--I don't know
which to give to my little brother.'

"I laughed, for I saw that he wanted them all himself, and yet loved his
little brother so much that he wanted to give them to him, so I said:
'If you will kiss me and call me "Aunt Fanny," I will make some for him,
too.'

"Then he put his arms round my neck, and kissed me so hard, that it made
his dear little nose quite flat for a moment, and said: 'Thank you,
Mrs. Aunt Fanny;' and I made him another picture, and cage, and
windmill, and then he was delighted.

"There are two beautiful little children in this house, who are twins,
because they came into this world at the very same time. They are each
six years old--a boy and a girl.

"I asked Richard where he came from? He said: 'Why, don't you know?
Sally and I were dug up from under a cotton tree.' Wasn't that funny?

"Then his mamma said: 'Richard, sing "Morning's ruddy beams, in the
Eastern sky,"' and he shouted out--

"'Morning's _ready_ beams
Eascum eascum skri,'

then stopped, and giving one eye a queer little twist, said: 'How does
_that_ suit you?' In the afternoon the children went to a party, and
Richard brought home an orange for his mother, and said: 'I'm going to
save this for your Christmas present,' which sounded very funny as