OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.

 Wytheville, Virginia.

We are three little girls who have often read and enjoyed Harper's Young People very much. We meet successively at each other's home every Friday evening, and read the stories in it. We live in a beautiful town in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. We three go to the same school, and like our teachers very much. Our parents take all your papers—the Monthly, Bazar, and Weekly—and we take Young People. We look forward to Wednesday with a great deal of pleasure, for we know it is the day our paper comes. We are so glad to see Mrs. John Lillie is going to write a new story, and we are sure it will be very interesting, as all her others are. Please print this, as we would like to surprise our mammas.

Ellie C., Helen S. S., and Susie W.

Well, Ellie, Susie, and Helen, though I do not know which of you has brown eyes and which blue, which is the tall slender girl, which the merry-faced one with the dancing dimples, and which the plump little maiden¹ who always thinks before she speaks, I send my love to each of you, and am glad to hear of your pleasant Friday evenings. You and the thousands of other girls for whom Mrs. Lillie has written her charming story have a real treat before you in reading it. I sometimes wish myself a girl again just to feel for an hour the delight I used to when beginning a beautiful new story. The girls who form Mrs. Lillie's audience have better times in the story way than girls did when your mammas and myself were at your age. But I, for one, still dearly love a bright sketch² or a beautiful serial³; and if I were near you, I might sometimes glide⁴ in and take an easy-chair in the corner on your reading evenings—that is, if you would let me in on my promising⁵ to be very good indeed.

Some of you who have empty cologne or scent⁶ bottles may make very pretty presents for your friends by covering them with silk or plush, and finishing off with a dainty lace ruffle⁷ and a narrow ribbon around the neck. A beautiful tidy which I saw the other day was crocheted⁸ in heavy cord, and looped over crimson⁹ silk. Very lovely plaques¹⁰ are made of the birch-bark plates on which butter is sent home by the grocer. They must be covered very neatly¹¹ with silk or satin, on which a design is worked or painted. The pretty little Japanese umbrellas, which cost but a few cents, may be inverted¹², opened, and caught at each point with a ribbon. Suspended from a nail, they make dainty little scrap-bags.

The letter which follows contains a suggestion which the Postmistress thinks excellent. She will keep a corner in the Post-office Box for all such letters as our correspondent invites:

Boston, Massachusetts.

Dear Postmistress,—I remember when I was eight or ten years younger than I am now, how hard it used to be for me to find anything new to make for Christmas for all the aunts and cousins, and now, as Christmas is drawing near, my younger sister comes to me and says: "Can not you think of something for Christmas? I want something for Aunt Mary and Aunt Lizzie, something I have not made for them before." I have no doubt that many other little people say the same thing. Now, I have a plan to propose to you, and if you think it a good one, will you mention it in the Post-office Box? Let each little girl—and boy too, if he wishes—write and describe something that he or she makes for Christmas, and then if you will be so good as to publish the letters I think before Christmas we may have quite a variety of ideas. Of course each article mentioned would not be new to all, but it would be new to some, and I think many little girls would be greatly aided. Now what do you think?

One of your Older Readers.

 

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

3 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

4 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

7 ruffle   

v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边

参考例句：

• Don't ruffle my hair.I've just combed it.别把我的头发弄乱了。我刚刚梳好了的。
• You shouldn't ruffle so easily.你不该那么容易发脾气。

8 crocheted   

v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mom and I crocheted new quilts. 我和妈妈钩织了新床罩。 来自辞典例句
• Aunt Paula crocheted a beautiful blanket for the baby. 宝拉婶婶为婴孩编织了一条美丽的毯子。 来自互联网

9 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

10 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

11 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

12 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》