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time, tough as she was, for he had not
tasted anything for more than three days.
Then he carefully shut the door, and lay
ing himself down snugly in the bed, wait
ed for Little Red-Riding-Hood, who was
not long before she came and knocked,
Toe —toe, at the door.
“Who is there?” said the wolf; and
the little maiden, hearing his gruff voice,
felt sure that her poor grandmother must
have caught a bad cold and be very ill in
deed. So she answered cheerfully:
“It is your child, Little Red-Riding-
Hood, who brings you a cake and a pot
of butter that my mother has sent you.”
Then the wolf, softening his voice as
much as he could, said :
“Pull the string, and the latch will
open.”
So Little Red-Riding-Hood pulled the
string and the door opened. The wolf,
seeino* her enter, hid himself as much as
he could under the coverlid of the bed,
and said in a whisper:
“Put the cake and the pot of butter on
the shelf, and then make haste, and come
to bed, for it is very late.”
Little Red-Riding-llood did not think
so; but, to please her grandmother, she
undressed herself and began to get ready
for bed, when she was very much aston
ished to find how different the old woman
looked from ordinary.
“ Grandmother, what great arms you
have!” •
“ That is to hug you the better, my
dear.”
“Grandmother, what great ears you
have!”
“That is to hear you the better, my
dear.”
“Grandmother, what great eyes you
have!”
“That is to see .you the better, ray
dear.”
“Grandmother, what a great mouth
you have!”
“That is to eat you up,” cried the
wicked wolf; and immediately he fell up
on poor Little Red-Riding-Hood, and ate
her up in a moment.
Idleness.
Hannah More says : “ Idleness among
children leads to no other evil more cer
tainly than to ill temper.”
Little Willie seemed to know this, for
whenever he had nothing to do, he would
say—
“ How, mamma, I have nothing to do;
I am on Satan’s ground, you know.”
Nature is an infinite sphere, of
which the centre is everywhere, the cir
cumference nowhere.
BURICE’S WEEKLY.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
Acrostic.
BY MARIANA CROSS.
Written a short time before her death.
RIGHT and pleasing to my eyes,
Underneath my glass it lies;
v Tjj 1 j Round the pages pictures glow,
4=, Kindly smiling on the flow —
V Ever charming, ever new —
So I’ll take the *’ W kkkly ” too.
When from sickening talcs I turn,
Each of which my heart doth burn,
Everything around is dull;
Kindest paper, thee I pull
Lightly from my file so new,
You will quench my heart-burns too.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
ELLEN HUNTER:
A S T O R Y O F T H E W A K .
DEDICATED TO THE CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH BY ONE
WHO HAS BEEN AN EYE-WITNESS TO THEIR
SORROWS AND THEIR SUFFERINGS.
BY BYRD LYTTLE, OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.
PROSPECTS OF WAR.
BT was about nine o’clock
on the morning of the 23d
of April, 1861, that the
family of Hr. Hunter as
sembled for breakfast.
Doctor was seated by the
ading the paper, when the
ng, and as he rose from his
j said:
“ Well, Mrs. Hunter, you may make up
your mind to part with your two sons
soon, for we are certainly going to have
war now.”
Poor Mrs. Hunter turned deathly pale
as she replied :
“Oh, my dear husband, do not talk in
that way; it would break my heart to
part with my children, knowing they
were to be exposed to constant danger.”
“Our 4 Northern friends’ care very lit
tle for that, madam. The best blood in
the land is as easily shed as the poorest,
and the rascals had as soon break your
heart as not.”
“You ought not to talk in this way be
fore the children, Doctor. It is not worth
while to terrify them with such dreadful
anticipations.”
But the caution came too late ; little
Ellen, their eldest daughter, who was
about twelve years of age, had been lis
tening most attentively to the conversa
tion, and after her father left the room
she said :
“Mother, what do the Yankees wish to
break your heart for?”
“ Hush, my child,” replied her mother ;
“no one wishes to break my heart; it is
just your father’s way of talking.”
Ellen was not satisfied, but she saw that
her mother was busy sending her little
brother and sister off to school, so she
waited until they were gone before she
ventured to ask any more questions; then
she said:
“Mother, if there is a war, will they
fight here in Richmond; and will George
and Harry have to fight too?”
“Oh, Ellen, why do you ask so many
questions? How do I know
about where the fighting is to be? It is
time enough to talk about it when it comes.
But you had better go to school now, or
you will be too late.”
Ellen put her books and lunch into her
basket, and walked out of the room with
an anxious, puzzled expression of coun
tenance. As soon as Mrs. Hunter finish
ed her domestic duties she went to the
library, where she found the Doctor in
deep thought. He did not hear her ap
proach, and started at the sound of her
voice.
“Now, Dr. Hunter,” said his wife, “do
tell me what is the reason you think we
are going to have war.”
“Nothing but this, my dear: the State
of Virginia has passed the ‘ Ordinance of
Secession,’ and there is nothing left for
us but to fight it out. I wish I could see
our people more united, but I expect the
sound of the first gun that is fired against
the South will rouse them all.”
“But, Doctor, what makes you think
our boys will have to go?”
“Why, bless my soul, madam, don’t you
suppose it will take every young man in
the country, and the old ones, too, I am
afraid, to keep back the hordes of foreign
ers and Yankees that are to be sent down
here? Os course our boys will have to
go, and I only wish I had a dozen such
boys. I could almost raise a company in
my own family, then. How would you
like to see your old husband dressed in a
captain’s uniform ?”
Mi’s. Hunter left the room suddenly, her
eyes filling with tears as she did so.
When alone, the Doctor sighed heavily,
and after some moments of deep thought,
he turned to his desk and wrote the fol
lowing letters :
“ Richmond, April 23d, 1861.
“ My Dear George :
“You have heard before this that our
glorious old State has seceded. It is llll '
necessary, I hope, to request you to re
turn home immediately, that you maj 11
one of the first to come forward in I RI
defence. I wish you to join some com
pany from this city, in order that we nu}
hear from you through friends. 0,11
mother and the children are well, thoug
the former is much distressed at the pm
pect before us. I feel that it is an avt"