LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 84

LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK.

Motto: —We write for the benefit of others, not for ourselves. &ST No letter to contain more than 450 woris. j Deal Dot, —I thought I would take this ! opportunity of writing to _the~ page before : Easter, as after Easter I shall have to send ! in my retiring letter. I shall be over age then; in fact, I am over age now, but you will receive my retiring letter oome time in April. I am -coming down to Dunedin on Good' Friday, so I hope to see you on Easter Saturday, if you are not away for your holidays. I am coming back again on { Easter Monday. I see Pradella wrote to the page some time ago. When she was in town I saw her at the house of a friend of mine, and she- said she would like to see Dot. So I took her down to see you, but when we got to the door of your building she was too bashful to -.ome in and see you. I tried my best to get her to come in and see you, but I could not persuade her to do so. I I was in the town a little while ago, and ; I saw an old comrade, Tomahawk; "and he is looking fine and healthy. He was delighted to see me, and I was delighted to see him also. I have seen him once or twice since. When ■. Lord Kitchener passed . through here the citizens gave him a civic | welcome. A very large crowd turned out

I to see him, and when the train steamed away they gave him throe hearty cheers. Th mill here had a picnic at Tiniaru last month, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We had several races, and there were sglu-s clcse finises'. I Tiaa tire aOr.OTJ? 11.l l . bdng hand* capper. After a ule-aSraht day's outing w<s arrived home at 7.45. The freezing works held their picnic at Timai- also last Friday . fortnight, and I am. looking forward to see> a report of it in the Witness*. am more than pleased to know that the Dlinedin ! Club has made a start igaiti. and I hooe it will prosper, as some energetic workers have promised to give the club their siippoit. 1 am very sorry I shall not be able to b2 present at a meeting while 1 am in town. i The weather has been dread"ul up here lately, When the Besses o' th' Barn Band' I was here it was a dull d?y. and the floral j fete was spoiled *ast Thursday on account' of its being wet. The fireworks had be postponed until the following Thursday. Now 1 thinl. I will clcse, Dot,- as you will hear from me" again shortly. With best •wishes to Dot and all my D.L.P. friends, — Yours truly, NED DE VINE. [lt is possible I may be away at Easter, Ned, but I hope you will come and see when you are in Dunedin, just on *he chance' of my being in. 1 want to hear all about your bagpipes, and the work you *>re doing in Ashburton, and your plans for the future; and lots of things.—DOT.] Dear Doty—lt is a long tiir since 1 have written to your page, but J have not quite forgotten you. We have had very fin-. weather lately, tut the are getting shortei. I was in Dunedin With our school Cadets to see Lord Kitchener, one of th--greatesfc soldiers Great Britain has. We went to- town on Wednesday and came back on Saturday. 1 am in the Fifth Standard at school, and I am getting on very well with my lessons. We have a school garden at the school, and ive have a great many vegetables, such as cabbages, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, pumpkins, vegetable marrows, and some flowers. My father is digging hia potatoes now, and we have a good crop s:_ far. We have a white kitten, and it is growing very quickly. It is very fond of the fire when there is no one about. We had a Sunday school picnic last Saturday at Miss Dutton's bush at Stirling, and had a good time of it. I went in for some raoes, and came third in one race and fourth in a three-legged race. After a while I went and had some games. We had a lovely day for the picnic.—Yours truly, , NUMBER THREE. [I find now, Number Three, that' there were a number of D.L.F. who, all unknown to me at the time, took part ir the parade befor Lord Kitchener. I am so glad Vlearn it, for I have nothing but approval for the Cadet and Scout movements, especially on the grounds of national defence ■and improvement of the national physique. -1 should like to see every boy in New Zeoiandi a member of a Scout or Cadet corps, and ambitious, as soon as he is ripe for it, to enter an adult Volunteer corps. How do you dispose of all these vegetables you grow : at school? Do you send them to market or distribute them among you?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —It is raining very hard this morning, and I am not going to school. We have three cats, and one has fivu kittens. I think father is going to keep one and drown the rest. We have a little black and white kitten about four months old, and this morning when I was in the kitchen he came in and upset a stool. Then he torout of the door as if he were going to have his head cut off. I went to a picnic about a fortnight ago. and enjoyed myself splendidly. It was a very hot day, and my cousin and I took off our boots and stockings and enjoyed ourselves in the creek. There was a tug-of-war, but the rope broke, and everybody fell on the ground. On Fridayi one of my schoolmates had an apple, and! there "was a nest of wood lice in it. Myj sister, Christmas Box, irurt her arm, but, luckily for her, she was better' in. time t.» go tc the Hanmer Springs with mother and my aunt. On Saturday I was playing-witii the dogs, and when I was coming insidu I stroked one, and then went to the other. The first one did not like that, and came up to me. I. did not take ajiy notice of him, and so. he just turned his back to me and gave me a slap in the face with his tail, aa much as to say, "Attend to me, please!"—' Yours truly, POKE BONNET. [I see you are fond of animals, Pok« Bonnet, from the way you watch their little tricks and antics. It is curious how jealous a dog often is of caresses bestowed on. another dog or on a household cat. I have often seeh the same thing, and watched them hover round uneasily when another pet is receiving attention. But I have never seen l one do what your dog did, Poke Bonnet—actually remonstrate by giving his little mistress a blow with his tail! That' was very intelligent of him. —DOT.] Dear Dot, —The harvest is all finished now, ■and the mill is at work. We aire milking five cows now. I was at a s dog trial on Friday, and enjoyed myself very much. The Presbyterian Church is having a sale of work soon. The rabbit factory starts odi Monday, and the rabbits are very plentiful about here. —Yours truly, JOHNNY FROM THE SHOTOVEE. [Will you be helping with the rabbiting, Johnny? Some cf the boys earn money by; it, I know; perhaps you will, too.: —DOT.] Dear Dot,—Here I am again after a.. long spell. I suppose yor have r.w.Uy quite forgotten me. If I had only a*little spare time my name would be seen more often. I am still at honii; and I think it is much healthier than being in town. I have three sisters and one brother working in town, and they always cycle home for dinner unless it is raining. The last time I wrote youl said that there was another L.F. who had the same N.D.P.' as mine (Dorecn), so 11 will change mine. The weather up here ia very changeable, but if fine weather continues for about a fortnight the harvest will l be finished. The races are on Thursday, but as I do not like them I will not go. Dear Dot, I will have to close now, as B think this is quite long enough, so good-, night—Yours truly, ABSENT. • [What are you so busy with, Absent? I". it housework? Do you have to prepare dinner for the ; three sisters and the brother when they come home from work? I earn imagine them coming in hungry, and anxious, to know if their dinner is ready for them!—> DOT.] Dear Dot, —After a silence of aoouti twelve months I think I will again write to you. We are having lovely weather up h«re just now. All the farmers have their* crops stacked, and most of them are threshed. We do not have a very big har■pesting here, as our farm is only very snuall; we have 40 acres only. I suppose you people living in a large town will think it is a lot, but it is only very small compared with some farms round here. Our flower garden alone is half an acre. The fruit and vegetable garden covers about twot acres, and we have four grass paddocks and one in potatoes and turnips, so it does not h we much for crops. I have started bust.

ness in town, but everyone says it is not, agreeing with me. because I am getting so thin and white. Just after New Year I went for a holiday to see if it would do me any good* but it did not do m« much. I first went to Milton, *bcn t Baiciutha, and then back to Dunedin. .1 was away nearly three weeks, so it was a good long holiday. We had a photo, of our house taken, but the photographer did not take it nicely. It looks as though it were on a big rise, but it is not. It is a good bit higher than the road, tut not from where he was. As it is getting late, I shall have to say good-night. With kind regards to all the L.F. and your•elf,_Yours truly, ASTHO EE. [I am sorry to hear that you are not in *erj good health, Asthore; you mUst try «o drink plenty of good milk and eat nourishing food. Do you aleep with your -window wide open at night? That is very good for you, and vou should be as much as evei you oan in the open air. I received (the past-card view of your house quite safely, and thank you very much for it. I like the look of all those rose bushes in the garden; did you have plenty of good blooms from -them? And is that yourself or a sister standing there ?—DOT.] Dear Dot,—lt is a lon*, time since I last wrote to you. Do you like reading hooks? I do. I, have read 'Grimms Tales," "Lost in the Jungle, Miss OBobbie"- "The Seven Little Australians, and "Clarice Egerton's Life Story.' lam nine years old, and I am in the -Lnird ' Standard. My birthday is on the Ist of April. We had our school picnic not long ago, and I saw Marjorie and Airlie there. We milk a number A cows. There are not many children coming to our school. There are six of U 3 milking, and there is also a cqwboj. I was at the Clifden race? and sports, and had a good time. With love to Airlie and Marjorie and yourself-Yours truly,

" * ' DOOLEY. TYou must have . large number of ccrws, Dooley, when there are seven of you milking. When are you going to begin?—DOT.] Dear-: Dot,—lt is" a long..while since I ■wrote to your page now; The days are gettin" short, and it will soon be winter. I don't like the winter, do you, Dot ? We ere to have a new teacher to-morrow. I did not pass this year, for I had been away from school a long while ill. so ,i am still in the First Standard. I like 'earning lessons and sowing, so T learn all I can at home. I have no sisters or brothers, but I have a dog of raj own and a, nice white ferret. She is such a playful little thing. With best wishes to Dot,—Yours truly, BLUE EYES.

rWhat can you sew, Blue Eyes? I like pawing too, and I like -making clothes. Have you ever made any clothes for your <k lis?—DOT.] 3ear. Dot,—We have finished pur harvesting, and are leading in. W« are going to get the mill iri shortly. Nearly all the apples are ripe, and. they are falling off the trees. "We are milking three cows; their names are Strawberry, Nancy, and Beauty. We have seven draught horses, one pony, one young, horse, .and one foal. I am ir the Fourth Standard at school. The inspector was up at our school 'to-day. I am M years of age. One of our neighbours has the mill, and I think it is a pleasant sight to watch the mill working and to see the little .heels going :ound. There is a great quantity of fruit, here, more than there has been any year before. We have a mile and a-hajf to walk to school, and, we leave at 9 and get there. I ..little before half-past. Half-past 9-is the time "the school gees in. Sometimes we are late, and sometimes we axe there before the eacher. There, are six of its going to ■■ school.- just now.—Yours truly, y BLUB "VIOLET- 11.

TThat is. just a- long enough walk to. make yc i-'feel quite warm '.n the winter mornings beginning school, isn't it. Blue But I suppose you do sometimes i*."sh : that- the school were just next door to

l-Jear Dot, — lam ir the Sixth Standard at school, and this is ray last year. I shall not he sorry to- leave, as I do not like going to school. I have'not far to walk to school now," but before we had about two miles to go. . Now we are in the township. It. has been very dry up here lately,, but it began to, rain a little to-day. The days are getting -very* short liow. The harvest is nearly all finished now. We are milking 22 cows for the factory; I milk five night and morning. It is very quiet up here.—Yours truly, ..,„. ; ROSEBUD.

[You said in the i:cte you enclosed, Rosefcud, that ,you were sending stamps for autos; but there were none in your letter. I suppose yov forgot to send them. However,' as soon as you send me the stamps, I shall forward some auto.' cards to you.— DOT.] Dear Dot, —? don't see many letters from j this place now, so I thought I would write , to you. I should like 'to tell you about my I trip to the Tamaiti claim. Alwich and I •were, drivan there and back in my uncle's express. When we got down there we had dinner. Then we .went up ;o the claim. It is not like the other claims about here. , Ir-stead of bavins, ,th«i dam above the claim, • the claim is above the dam. The .rater is j pumped up to it b> Joroe machinery driven f fey a water-wheel. The water comas to this wheel in a pipe over 12ft ii circumference. The dam from which this pipe comes is 40ft deep and two or three miles long., bvit now it is nearly full of silt. Aiter we ; visited the power-house we had tea. Then ; we had a pleasant drive home. The next week we went to a Sunday school picnic at Stirling. When we" arrived ihere we went to the wrong place, and had to go back about a mile. After another long walk we reached the light place, very tired, hot, and dusty, and r uite reedy for our dinner; but we thoroughly l enjeved , ourselves. Last Tuesday night Alwich and I went to see Fred Foley's piViures. " The Life of Napoleon " was the most. interesting, and "Juggins's' Motor Skates" and "Boxing Fever" were the most amusing. "The Liff> of Napoleon " lasted fifty minutes. I will ?lose now, as I have to go to school. — trulv, . ELMACH

[That is quite a curious arrangement, to .Have the dab above the. darn. -J should think it roust have necessitated the installation of more expensive machinery to d ilie heavy pumping- that would be r«>■quired. but perhaps the claim is rich enough to stand .that! Write again soon, ElmacJi.— DOT.] •

TDeai Dot,—This i*. Sunday evening. We jhave had a lot of visitors, and two of them are just away. Mother and my sister (Momo-ihaki)-hay>s.j.ju6tj .gsn-e, out for %• walk, so there is just my father (it h6irie. with; lis:and it is verj lonely, so A thought I would write you a letter- I was vt Sunday school to-day. CH&| teacher is living, in her residenpe uiow; ,afn:d she haa:,a',girl staying with her there. So T have a new schoolmate since I last wrote; she was talking about writine to the page. Our garden at school was all eaten down bv acme sheep that got into the school paddock in the holidays, and I was so sorry to see <?»? garden all spoiled When I came back to School. I am 12 now.

and . am. in the Sixth- Standard. .. I shall be i 3 on the Bth May. The farmers around here are all busy harvesting; 3oma of them have finished Out man - have finished all but threshing. We have had very warm weather just now, and all our gardens are. dried up. I think this is all just now, as I have other correspondents' letters to answer. With love to all the D.I F. and yourself,—Yours truly, SANDSTONE. [You are learning the trials that come to a gardener, Sandstone: he has much to contend with in the way of adverse weather and insect pests, but as a rule he does not have to reckon with sheep as His enemies! It was indeed a pity that your garden suffered as it did, but I hope you will have better luck next season.—DOT.] Dear Dot, —I am going to try to give an account of myself and my doings all this time. It was very wet here the laiter part of last week. It was fine on Sunday, and rained almost all day to-day. The harvest season was over here some weeks ago. The blackberries are all ripe how. I have been out twice picking them:, and got ever so many each. time. Cucumbers are very plentiful this season, and also tomatoes, of both of which I am very fond. Apples are very plentiful, but plums seem to be scarce. I have had very few plums until yesterday, when I was at my sister s place. They have not any growing, but in the afternoon we went down to my brother-in-law's father's place, which is only about half a mile distant, where I had as many plums as I could 1 eat. The jam-making is nearly all over for rue, and I can assure you "I am not at all sorry. 1 am'not a lover of jam-making, but someone has to do it. I had such a delightful ride on horseback about a fortnight ago, all the more enjoyable as I so rarely get one. There are to he swimming sports held here on the 3rd of March in the local swimming baths. I don't think I have ever told you yet that we had swimming baths. They were only completed, I think, at the end. of Octobei. They were opened ,by the Mayor in November.- I have not got a season ticket; I, just pay 3d eacjj time : ; I : go.'-, I always go once x week,"and ofteher when I can. *I could not swim a stroke when first T went, but I got a pair of water-wings, and the sixth time I ;went I could swim without them! I can swim the width of the baths easily now; but I cannot quite manage the length yet." The width is 45ft and the length 75ft. I have only gone down the chute once yet. I have jumped cfi the springboard several times, although I do not care much about it.-. The school Cadets and the'Volunteers from here went to Hutt Park. I have one brother in each. The one in the Cadets went, arid enjoyed himself thoroughly, but the other was unable to go. Well, dear. Dot, I think I have given you all the news at present, so will ilose with kind regards to all the L.F-, of whom, by the way, I see there is an ever-increasing number I —¥ours truly, MOUNTAIN BELLE.

[You have many interests in your life, Mountain Belle. I. thoroughly enjoyed reading about your excursion .up Mount Egmont, and it is a pleasure also to hear of your activities in the way of jam-making, riding, and swimming. You may have thought your account of your excursion was a long time in appearing, but I have had a good deal of matter for the page lately, end held your paper and letter ov.er until there, should bemore space. I shall be glad to' hear from,you again soon.—DOT.]- - Dear Dot, —We have finished harvesting up here now. I set about five traps, arid catch two or three rabbits and keep the skins. Our swimming days are over now; the water is getting rather cold, because it is getting near winter. We have painting at school now, and paint all kinds of designs. I know a, few D.L.F. about Garstc-n.—Yours truly, - ■ ■• UNCLEJOSH. Dear Dot, —We are having very cold weather just now, and I am not in love with it. I recently came down from the country to take the position of pupil teacher in the North-East Valley School, and I like the place very much. Where is Edievala all this time? I have seen no letters from her for over twelve months. Hurry up and write, Edievale; you have -been asleep a long time, so wake up and send us a line or two. What do you think of the New Zealand cricketers? They were beaten easily •enough. I trust they will make a better show at Wellington. With love to Edievale and the rest of the L.P.,—Yours truly, WILD TOL

[I have not heard any, news of Edievale. for some time myself, Wild Will, hut, so fer as I know, she is still in Roxburgh. Perhaps she will see this and write. —DOT.] . Dear Dot,— Although I have no; written to you for such a long time, I have not forgotten you. We have been having lovely weather till yesterday, when it began to rain, .: and made the reads very muddy; but it • will do some good, as the rain will kill ; some of the blight on the turnips, and will also freshen the gra&s and make it grow. Nearly everybody has got the corn threshed; we finished threshing ours last Saturday afternoon, and are now carting away the grain. . Some people are very busy ' digging their potatoes, but we have not 1 finished digging ours yet.—Yours truly, I .'..*■ CARNATION.

[lt is a busy time in the country jusi now, Carnation, but you • have your winter rest to look forward to, haven't you? How do you spend your time in the long winter evenings?—DOT.] Dear Dot,—l suppose you will be thinking I have lost all interest in the page; but I have not. I was -very pleased to see my ether letter in print, and to know that ycu have accepted me as a member of your band. All your writers seem as merry as the larks. Dot, judging by their letter?. We got the rain all right, urd plenty of it. since last I wrote. We have finished all the stacking now, and I am nit sorry either, because I had to crow all the time that the stacking was going on. Have you ever seen hematite just as it is dug out of the mine? There is a mine close beside us, and I sometimes get pieces out of it. A ffood many people take it for yellow clay. When it is melted and put through different processes it turns red. and is used for putting in paint. J wonder what has become of °Asthore lately, Dot? She has not had a letter in the page for a long time. ■ She must either be in the land of dreams or else she is working very hard and has no time for letter-whiting. J have not many nice flowers in my garden now. as the he.at destroyed some of them. I will have to dig it. up.and transplant all the flowers before th* ...winter corns,? 0n... I, had a beautiful, lily of trie'' Nile .growing in a barrel. ' Ijt was. givdit'tio nib* last "y'e'ar, so I halved 'it this year 1 ! s-b* as * to make it' grow batter. T- havo aj fei\'. ige'rkrfd'U'nrs "■ growing iir' pot's i in ■• thewindows. Are :,vciu fond if .flowers,.. Dot»?.>; I am. I bava.never told you anything.about myself, so I will do so now. I was 1G years old last December. I have one sister and two brothers, but I have onlv one brother at home, as my other brother is learning the carpenter's trade, so he has to live in Milton. My sister works in Milton trio. They are all older than I. but none

of them ever wrote to the page. I have two pet lambs, two pet dogs, and my horse. } milk' three cow- every nigh! and morning. —Yours truly, FOItGET-MB-.NOT 11. [You will see lettei from Asthore this, week, Forget-me-not; it was odd that you should both send me letters: for the same Witness, wasn't it? What is "crowing"? Ycu say 7ou had to orow all the time the stacking was going on, and 1 wondered what you meant by it. Will you tell me in your next letter? I am very fond of flowers, Forget-me-not, and I am just thinking of doing the same to a primula, plant I have as you tell me you have done to your lily. Only I am going to be more grasping than you, for I mean to divide mine into five. . Tell me how yours gets on, will you?— DOT.] Dea. Dot,—lt is a long time since I last wrote to you. I am in the Second Standard now, and I am very, ; glad to say that I passed in the examination. I went to Honeysuckle's place far my holidays at Christmas time. Honeysuckle is my aunt. Wo have 32 cows and 14 calves, and I milk five cows sometimes. My little brother has started school, and he is in the Second Class. Our neighbours have gone away, and we are very sorry. With love to Honeysuckle, Black-eyed , Susan, and yourself,— Yours truly, FENWICF , LASS. [lt is indeed a long time since I heard from you, lassie, and I was so glad to get a letter from- you again. It was quite a surprise to me to learn that you are now in the Second Standard; you were such a little girl when you first began writing to me, weren't you? And I also got r surprise when I heard that ycu can milk five cows; I did not think you were big enough for that either!—DOT.] Dear Dot,—lt i 3 several months since I last wrote to the page. We were having very dry weather here lately until the rain canne on Friday evening. Everybody about here was carting water from the creeks. ■ I am in the Sixth Standard now at school, arid like my new work very much. We have our grain threshed now. The mill was here about a week. I saw your letter in, Bruce; you seem to have had a good picnic. There are not many flowers out in our garden now. It will' not be long till winter now, will it, Dot? I enjoy going to school an a wet morning just as well as I do when the sun is shining. I have not far to walk to school. My sister, Wild Girl, has run away and left me again. She went tack to Winton again. Dear Dot, I love reading, and have read a good number of books, I got a nice book at school at ' Christmas; the name of it was " Melbourne House. "• We had our school picnic on February 3. and I won a nice box and three shillings. My sister went in the double harness race and won it. She got three shillings also, so you see we did not do so badly. I got honia from the picnic about 7 o'clock, and after milking the cows my sister and I went to the dance at night.. I can do most of the dances now,. and I like danoing very much. I was a little awkward at first, but I soon got into the way of it. My brother. Nagerar, is ' going to wxite to the page soon. With love to Bruce, Wild Girl. Lady Green, Farmer John, and yourself,— Yours truly, " RUBY.

[Now that you have learned to dance, Ruby. I am sure you will enjoy a'cdn.g, to the dances. You are probably looking forward- already to those that are going to be held this winter. Can you remember the order of ths figures in the quadrilles: yet? Or do you "trust yciur partner to see you safely through those?—DOT.] Dear Dot.—This. is ray first letter to your wage. I like to read the D.L.F. letters, and I always thought I wou'd like to write. There are six of us in th« family, three pirls and three boys. I am 12 years old. and I am in the Fifth Standard at school. We had two rabbits, but one of them grot out, and the dogs killed it. I went to Dunedin for my summer holidays. a->d enjoyed myself very much.—Yours trolv. RED POPPY. [I think one little note of welcome will do for Red Poppy and Violet, since they are both flowers, and live in the same nlaoe, in the same house even, and are in the same class at school; don't you think so, flowers, yourselves? Welcome, both, to my garden!— DOT.] ■'-.'-

Dear Dot, —I am going to tell you about a bazaar we had in aid of the Presbyterian. Church. We had a grand time watching the shooting and the quoits. The art gallery was very good. Then' there was a voting competition, in which the public paid a penny to vote for the moat popular lady and gentleman in the hall. Of course, you could pay as many pennies as ycu liked, and get as many votes. There was a curious tumbling doll at the bazaar, to see which you were charged' 3d. I shall describe it to you, as some D.L.F. may like to make one for a, similar bazaar or entertainment. The doll is made of stiffened canvas, which is mads into a cylindrical figure with bulgy ends, inside which a big penny marble is put. The doll itself is about four inches loner and about an inch and a-half wide, and is dressed with a coat and a waistcoat, and has cloth arms and legs, and has a facs coloured in ink. The doll is placed on a sloping board, and tumbles down in a- very funny way, the roiling of the marble insldi the tubular bcdy making it keep moving. A fair-sized marble is necessary to make it perform. The latest book I have read i 3 called "The Three Scouts," and it is a very good book. It is about the Boer war. I am very much .interested jn scouts, and wish there was a trcop here. "With love to Star of Brunswick, and all L.F., not forgetting yourself,—Yours truly, - CHIPS.

[ls there no chance of forming a corps of scouts in. your town? Are' there not enough boys? You ought to approach, your teacher on this subject, Chips, axd see if he can find out for you whether anything can be done. You might work in conjunction with one of the large centres near you—that would be Riverton. I suppose. I have seen one of those dolls you describe, and thought it most ingenious and amusing. Were the arms and legs in your one just flat strips of cloth, not stuffed? I think they were in the one I saw. —DOT.]

Dear Dot,—l think I shall try to describe to you a' book I read a few years ago called " Betty the Bold." It was about a little girl called Betty Swift, and her brother Georgie, who were living with their aunt Grace, or Mrs Wylie. It seemed very hard that the freedom they were accustomed to at home was not theirs with their Aunt Grace. Betty bad one cousin whom she did not ca.re .for, fo they were never great friends. Fanny Wylie was a naughty, spoilt chilli, but her mother never .thought so. Betty,' a'sociable little maid, was-very fond of adventures and romping, but Fanny, on the contrary, ' liked best, to play with her d<pls. Betty had two great friends. Pearl and Eddy Malloxy, whom Fanny did not like at all. One 'afternoon. Fanny came rushing into the room and told Betty about a party ber mamma, was giving them. They were to invite the children o* the district, and so Betty thought she would meet Pearl once more. But to her anger Fanny would not invite them: despite all Betty's coaxing

and teasing, she refused to do so. Then, when Fanny went downstairs, Betty stale two cards and envelopes and wrote out invitations for the Mallorys, and pasted them. When the reply came addressed to Fanny she wondered why it was there. When it was found out, Mrs Wylie said that no punish Betty she would not allow her to be at the party. On the night of the party Betty was upstairs in her bed, and how sorry she was when she heard the merry chatter of the guests downstairs! She got cut of bed, dressed herself, and went down. When Mrs Wylie noticed ; her she ordered her to go back to her bed. Now, dear Dot, this is long enough; I shall complet. it next time. With love o Sceptre, Jean, Little Cupid, Modest Violet, A Lonely Violet, Cotton, and yourself.—Yours truly, A COUNTRY MAID.

[We shall all be interested tci hear the rest of your story; I hope a brighter time is coming fot poor little Bettv. But she was naughty, wasn't she, to send off those two invitations herself ?—DOT.] Dear Dot,—This is my second letter to your page. My sister and I went to the school concert on Friday night; it went in at half-r>ast 8, and then a dance followed, which broke up at 5 o'clock. When I got home I went to bad and slept till 11 o'clock.—Yours truly, LADY LUCY. [Late hours for a little girl, dear! You could not do that very often in the week, could you?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —It is very cold to-day. We have finished our ba.rves 1 , and the trapning season has started. We have five little pur>s and two little kittens. We have two foals. Good Friday is this week, so we shall have a holiday. J am reading a nice book just now. We have a new teacher at this s-chool. and I like her verv much. It is very cold at nights now. We had the mill for three days. I have not much to say, so I will clo&e. With love to all the D.L.F. and yourself,—Yours truly,

YOUNG BARE FEET

Dear Dot,—Yesterday wa3 my grandmother's birthday, and she was 85 years of age. Our teacher is going away at Easter. When I went fishing I had no "luck at all. Three of my brothers are with the threshing inUl. With love to all Little Folk.—Yours truly, LAD'S: OF THE NILE.

[You ask if you may change your nom de plume, Lady of the Nile. It is a thing I d-> not like you i;o rlo unle>s= there is som? urgent reason for it. becaus? it makes confusion in my hook. You are not thinking of changing yours, are you? It is quite a nice name?— DOT.]

Dear Dot, —These are the presents thai I got for Christmas:—A pair of braces, a straw hat, a bear, a packet of crackers, a lucky stocking, and a silver lead pencil and. penholder. I have just written to Lady Battersea and my sister, who works in Dunedin. I have got a watch and chain, and a lead pencil-holder fox a pendant, I won a puzzle, and I got my wati-h from England. I am in the Fourth Standard now, and I am 12 years old. I got the strap on my birthday. I was at Timaru a week ago yesterday for my school picnic, and I am going to the Ashton Beach on Easter Monday for our Sunday school picnic. We have shifted up to Tinwald now, and I like living up here; we see more, and we are closer to Ash burton. I go into Ashburton every Wednesday for the Otago Witness, where I see all tha D.L.F letters. I have only got one j>.L.F writing to me- now. My youngest brother has a bad foot. —Yours truly, RACEABOUT. [You are a lucky boy, Kaceabout, to have received all those Christma-s presents, and then to have won a watch and chain in a competition. What sort cf competition was it? Was it in some English paper?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —The farmers had good weather for the harvest this y?ar; they have not had such good weather, for a long time. The Maerewhenua D.L.F. seem to be forgetting you; I hope they see this, and start and write again. Our baby is very ill just now; we have had the doctor to her twice. Since I last wrote to the page Christmas has come and gone, with all its holidays. We had a lot of picnics this-year, but we did not have a D.L.F. one, as the day we fixed for it was wet. Did I send you my auto, Livingstone Newsagent ? : If not, white and tell me, and I will forward it to you. With love to Stardreamer, Candlestick, Greenshrub's Sister, Lady Bess, and yourself.—Yours truly, THE MINER'S DAUGHTER.

Dear Dot, —It is a long time since I have written to the page, but I have had a poisoned finger, and could not write. I am goings down tc Dunedin for the Easter holidays. I hope I shall have something of interest to write about when I coma back. It is nearly five years since I was down. There have been a few changes since I last wrote, and among them Violetta has left the district and gone to another school. I miss her very much. I see another of your correspondents. Dolly Gray, has come to live in our district; I hope she will like it. I am getting a great many pretty post-cards. 7. think it would be a good idea it* we could have a L.F. album—don't you think so. Dot? With best love to Violetta, Sally Horner, Trems, Livingstone, Newsagent, The Lamo-iig-nter's Niece, and yourself,—Yours truly, BROWNIE.

[I hope you enjoy your holidays very much, Brownie. I wonder if we shall see you at the club? I hope you think of coming.— DOT.] Dear Dot, —This is my first letter to your page, and I hope you will accept me as one of your happy band. Mountain Daisy and I are twin sisters, and we are both in the Sixth Standard. We are milking 20 cows just now, and are sending milk to the hospital and factory. Some of the books I have read are "Faithful Friends,'' "In London Fields," "Poppy's Presents," and "Averil." Our flowers are not looking very nice just now, as the rough weather is spoiling them.— Yours truly, . A MOUNTAIN LASSIE. [lt seems only fitting that when Mountain Daisy is a D.L.F., you, her twin sister, should be one, too ; so I am most pleased to enroll you now. Perhaps in your next letter you will choose one of the books you have read and tell me about it. Would you like to do that?—DOT.] Dear Dot, —We are having' very wet weather, but I hope it will clear up for Easter. The school excursion was to Tuatapere, but I did not go. We finished harvesting a week ago. I have a black cat which has three little kittens. ■ On Easter Monday and Tuesday there, is to be a large race meeting in Riverton. We are preparing for a quarterly examination,:.. at , school. There are about 30 children in. .ibe class I am in at school, a.nd about 300 astend the school.—Yours truly, '*""■". '■■'<", '.'.'■ , . MOUNTAIN UAISY. [I had no idea your school was so large as that, Mountain Daisy. Riverton must have grown a great deal since I last saw it to keep such a large school g?inr.—DOT.] Dear Dot, —It is a long time Ficce I last wrote, so I think I will make a start again. We are having rough weather up hijre just

'now, oiit most of the harvest is in. The hurting sea-son will be starting again in May; I like going to the hunts to watch the horses jumping. A number of people are hurt every hunting season. No lady riders follow the hunts about Otautau. The other day I was watching a chaffcutter working. It was driven, by a small traction engine. There was a man on the sheaf stack and anothei man putting the sheaves in it, another taking the bags of chaff off, another two sewing the bags with flax, and another one driving the engine. When they had cut 60 bags they stopped and sharpened the knives that were cutting the chaff. There is also another chaffcutter plant here, but it is driven by a portable engine. The traction engine is the best, because there are no horses with it. It travels very fast along the road, and sometimes the sparks out of it set the gorse hedges on fire, and then there is a great blaze until the engine driver gets to work upon it. Several fences were burnt last summer through its being so drv. 4.11 the farmers about hare, have got large crops of apples, and the saw-"* mill men very often get into trouble over taking them. Dear Cot. I found a lot of hives of wild bees in the bush this year: they were in hollow parts of the trees, and some of them had a large amount of honey |in them. The.honey was just the same as yoil get out of a box. The bees were very vicious, and we got a lot of stings. The . pigeons a.re very plentiful in the bush just now; they must know that it is not shcotin.'r peason. With kindest regards to Ladv Cornie, Sim's Mate, and vourself.—Youis truly, LAREIKXtf TOM. [Have you Med to take a hive of v'!d heesr. Larrikin Tom. vaA bring them in f-r bee-keeping? O are you content just foi get their honey? Do you go in for beekeeping ?—DOT] Den.r Dot,—l hope you will accept mie as f member of your happy band. I am a. bov scout, and v-» have such a- good time. • I liked reading Pi-ri-pi's letter about boy scouts. We have two patrols. ».nd I am corporal of the first; it is called the oeacock risirol. Our scoutmaster. is good to lis. We have nine canaries in an aviary; they sine very nicely m the spring. I sleep in a tent all the yar; it is so nice —Vours {rljl - v > CORPORAL, rAnother boy scout for my band,' and a ! oornoral, too! T am so pleased to. welcone you..-corpora!! I feel that I am gradual'--srcttin-r n , ewd ~f ,h o P.our around me withall tHese gallar.j youn-r scouts who h*v* routed us. T- hop ( > y m w nj M ~, nice long left?- scran dav and feeJL nv nil about your drill and. your duties.—DOT.'' - Dear Dot.—l have kept putting off wikia" to you, and putting it off. but at last h-re is a letter from toe. My birthday was la-t----bundav, and I get soma nice presents It 18 ft wet day here to-day, and I can't go to Sunday school. I was down seeing Maze tfees last Sunday, but it was a wet day and we had to stay indoors all the time. I am not going ,away for my holidays at E«ater time: are vou going anywhere? With love to Maze Bses and all the Little Folk,— Yours truly, DRAIDLA

[You did not tell me what presents you SwL, Uraidla '' I/'should have Hked to bear.— DOT.]

Dear Dot.—Tin's is my first letter to your page, and I wish to join your happy banc?. I am ien years old, and I am in the Fifth Standard at school. I have three brothers and two sisters. The Wanaka races *-e-°. held yesterday, and I don't think thfer« were many there. I did not go. We h*v<» £n!y one cow milking, and* I milk it. We foavw a sroldfinch and a- pet rabbit. There .ire 24 children go-ins: to our school. With low to L«dy Evelyn, Clutha, and Spring Flower,—Yours truly, BUTTERFLY. ALTOP. A Country Maid, care Mrs Watt, Pyramid. Jl> G;ore,- wishes to exchange autos with anv VVyndham D.L.P. willing;