g^e LITTLE COLONEL S OOD TIMES BOOK \NNIE- FELLOW M^i r>i2i, Class __:£S3^_L^_ Book_ ^sLsi Gopyright}^^.- }^o3 COPXRIGHT DEPOSIT. K «7^c LITTLE COLONELS The Little Colonel Series {Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.) Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated The Little Colonel Stories ...... (Containing in one volume the three stories, " The Little Colonel," " The Giant Scissors," and " Two Little Knights of Kentucky.") The Little Colonel's House Party .... l.SO The Little Colonel's Holidays The Little Colonel's Hero . The Little Colonel at Boarding- School The Little Colonel in Arizona The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor . The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum The above 10 vols., boxed 1.50 1.50 l.SO 1.50 1.50 l.SO 1.50 1.50 15.00 1.50 The Little Colonel's Good Times Book Illustrated Holiday Editions Each one vol., small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and printed in color The Little Colonel $1.25 The Giant Scissors ....... 1.25 Two Little Knights of Kentucky .... 1.25 Big Brother . . . 1.25 Cosy Cornet Series Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated The Little Colonel $.50 The Giant Scissors ....... .50 Two Little Knights of Kentucky .... .50 Big Brother 50 Ole Mammy's Torment .••... .50 The Story of Dago SO Cicely SO Aunt 'Liza's Hero .50 The Quilt that Jack Built 50 Flip's " Islands of Providence " . . . . .50 Mildred's Inheritance .50 Other Books Joel: A Boy of Galilee $1.50 In the Desert of Waiting .50 The Three Weavers 50 Keeping Tryst . . .50 The Legend of the Bleeding Heart .... .50 The Jester's Sword . .50 The Rescue of the Princess Winsome .... .50 Asa Holmes 1.00 Songs Ysame (Poems, with Albion Fellows Bacon) . 1.00 L. C. PAGE & COMPANY. Boston. Mass. ILittle €ohmU (^ooi) %imts Book By Annie Fellows Johnston Author of " The Little Colonel Series," " Big Brother," " Ole Mammy's Torment," " Joel : A Boy of Galilee," " Asa Holmes," etc. DECORATED BY P. VERBURO L. C. PAGE & COMPANY BOSTON Q^ MDCCCCIX Zhc Xittle Coloners (3oob Zlimee 3oo\\ Up in an attic where I sometimes go to rum- mage through old chests and look through piles of time- stained letters, I lately came across two things which gave me a peculiar pleasure. One was an old-fashioned "charm-string," and the other some squares of patchwork, made long ago in a country school-house, during the winter noon hours when it was too cold and snowy for the usual games outside. The first is only a motley collection of glass buttons, strung on a faded ribbon. When following the fashion of the school, I began to gather them, when the ribbon was a new one and rose-pink, I wondered why they called it charm string. Now I know. Each button of amethyst or ruby or other rainbow hue is like a crystal- gazer's globe. Looking through it I can see the magic moment when it was added to my string. This little blue one ringed with white ! I'd quite forgotten that there ever was a button made like that. But looking through it now, I recall as if it were but yesterday, how it came into my possession. I got it in a trade, and long I haggled with the boy across the aisle to make him give it up; emptying my pencil-box, and searching through my desk for some- thing that might not meet the scorn- ful uplift of his freckled nose, in lordly disapproval of " jus' girl's things." And I can see the very warts upon his grimy little hand, held out to take the objects for which at last he deigned to trade: a big red wine-sap apple, the stub of an indelible pencil, and an agate, badly nicked. That is the scene. The charm is, that for the moment, once more I am the child in ruffled pinafore, grasping the prize I coveted, seeing the world and human kind as one must see it who has not yet passed the limits of the Second Reader. - And this wee button, like a drop of honey, dates farther back than that. It was one that fastened an old-time gown of flowered organdy, one of wide flowing sleeves and hoop-skirt fashion; and fingering that button while I listened, I sat upon the wearer's lap and took long, rapt ex- cursions into the realms of song and story. A lullaby comes back with that, and fire-flies in the summer gloom outside, and in the dusky low- ceiled room, sweet with drowsy song, the creaking of a rocking chair, and smell of jessamine. This amber-apple one! A dear old lady gave me that, and turned a stiff, prim duty- visit to a time of joy. For though her hair was white, and when she went to fetch the button she leaned upon a black, gold-headed stick, I saw a part of her was young as I, and knew that she knew how it felt to sit perched up on a great chair entirely too tall, conscious of new blue shoes, and wide blue sash smoothed down behind, and make half-scared replies to awesome elders. In the box she brought there were some tiny artificial rosebuds, and lace that faintly smelled of sandal-wood, with which she showed me how to make a doll's hat ; that and the amber apple-shaped button ! And now when little guests look up with shy eyes into mine, I think perhaps it is that charm which helps me to interpret their timid silences, keeping still young a part of me to answer to the heart of childhood, as that dear old lady answered mine. The string is full, and it would take the covers of a book to hold the his- tories of them all. But I have told enough for you to see how much the faded ribbon holds besides those bits of glass. It is the same with all those squares of patchwork. That piece of white with red dots scattered through, means more than Sally's apron. It means the merriest soul upon the playground, the champion of the spelling matches ; so popular that for her sake the big boys let us join them in their games of " Two old cat," and yet, alas! so feminine, they jeered us when she caught the ball, not in her hands, but in that little ruffled apron. The stitches straggle now and then, for sometimes on the outskirts of our peaceful sewing-bees the boys waged crayon-fights, and gave vent to pent-up energies in ways to keep us starting from our seats with shrieks and pricked fingers. This plaid block with the squares of buff marks the noon they " crossed the Alps " upon the benches, jumping from one desk- top to another, till the stove-pipe, long and many jointed, fell with a bang, filling the room with smoke and giving us a holiday till it could be replaced. Now, when I recall these happen- ings, and think how long they have been hidden in my memory, they seem to me like things that have been lost within the woods, buried a little deeper every year by the falling leaves of the succeeding Autumns, and now revealed by a chance wind that blew the drifts aside. I know a host of other things are hidden thus, which only need a passing touch to bring to mind, and think regretfully how eas- ily I might have set some mark by which I could retrace my steps to them, as one would blaze a trail through a forest that he might find his way back again. If I had only kept a record of those brimfull, strenuous schooldays, what a well of laughter it would be to-day ! I did acquire the habit later. For twenty years I've kept a journal, and for so many reasons found the course a good one, that I heartily commend it to every girl and boy who knows enough to use a pen.- Not the con- ventional diary, however, which every one at some time in his life probably has attempted, starting out with grim determination to write a few lines every day, and soon discarding it as an intolerable bore. Write only when you've something that you want to keep. Maybe a fort- night may go by without a line, and then you'll need a page or two to chronicle the doings of one afternoon. One reason that so many diaries are thrown aside in the beginning, is that the writer patterns after those in fic- tion, and turns his inmost being wrong side out, to make a note of all his feelings. Now in the kind of diary I have in mind, feelings and self- analysis are as out of place as they would be on a play-ground. Any game would be a failure in which the players kept a finger on their pulses and stopped at intervals to take their temperature. The game of Life is no exception. You miss the goals you're after when you stop to be self-con- scious. Since " A boy's will is the wind's will, and the thoughts of Youth are long, long thoughts," it is better not to put down in black and white the fluctuations of your soul. In the growing up process it is perfectly natural that you should be a sort of weather-vane, but some day when you are pointing due west, it would be a blow to your vanity to come across the crude confessions of an earlier stage, when you were sighting some other point of the compass. Probably in a fit of disgust you would pitch the book into the fire. First and last put out of mind the thought that some one else may read what you have written and maybe quote it in your memoirs. A diary written with that end in view must be above all things else self-conscious. The kind that some day will be worth a fortune to you, is one kept simply in the squirrel-fashion of nut- gathering time. Once in a while, in the midst of care-free frisking, and eating your fill of the plump nuts on your particular tree, give a thought to the time of need that may be com- ing, and just drop a few into some hiding place for a winter store. If we could always trust our memories this need not be. But I have seen people scarce in their twenties, whose minds were so beclouded by the worries and misfortunes of their present, that all their happy past counted for nothing. They had no store of cheer laid by, no tangible reminder of past good times, by which to resurrect them. So for the reasons given in the rhymes which head these pages, be- gin a record of your Good Times early; and like the Little Colonel's string of pearls, some day you'll find it has become a priceless Rosary of Remembrance. ^fvv,,^^ b^^cZl^^^o^ J^h;^'^^^ Scbruat^ 'Tis the King's call. O list! Thou heart and hand of mine, keep tryst. Keep tryst or die ! The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation. Page 78. PD ynv ^ ,»^ ^ f^ Ky. UIJU ICD ■tf' " Love will find a way " to make us forget the un- pleasant things and remember only the good. The Little Colonel at Boarding School. Page 245. I 2 3 4 5 ifci 6 7 LVr\o> 8 ^^ 9 10 II 12 13 H 15 ^ 16 RE ^ mi^^^^jzi^AP^:%'^/j^ ^ i ^^^^^W^^^S \AJ flDarcb m m The phrase ' The road of the loving heart ' is a gospel in itself. ' The day is not longer than his kindness ' is a new beatitude. Fame dies and honours perish, but ' loving kindness ' is immortal. The Little Colonel's House Party. Page 212. ^_\ 17 ^ 18 f^ 19 s^ 20 w 21 w^ 22 Vk 23 Aa 24 w 25 f\ 26 r^ 27 ^ 1 28 ^ 29 30 ^ 31 ^T" i i MM ^^^^H april M The tune thou pipest may not bring thee pleasure, but if it sets the world to dancing it is enough. Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum. Page 250. *X^/m\^^ I 2 3 4 ^^^^ 5 6 3^^g 7 8 ^ytr^j 9 10 II ^^ 12 Wm^- 13 14 ^^ 15 ^^H M gjl^^s^ ^^^B M Hpril m You know over a road. remembering things is like looking back The Little Colonel's House Party. Page 213. m i6 17 18 19 ^^P ^^S 20 21 ^^? ^^ 22 i 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1^ ^H 1 Only through unselfish service to others comes the happiness that is highest and best. The Gate of the Giant Scissors. Page 45. 10 II 12 n H 15 16 p:^ >^f?^5;^g^t^e^^^ffic^^ Euoust .... .. And so may'st thou, while swinging onward, faith- ful to thy orbit, reflect the light of heaven upon thy fellow men. Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum. Page 255. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 * 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 3^ ^jg^^^5l^^ September True hope is swift and flies with swallows' wings. Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding. Page 256 Somehow, no matter how happy the holidays are, it always seems so good to get home. The Little Colonel's Holidays. Page 230. 6 _7_ 8 10 II 12 H 15 The world expects us to do certain things. We must keep tryst with these expectations. The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation. Page 91. IRovembet If we'll just grapple the things we dislike most to do, the little homely every-day duties, and busy ourselves with them, they'll help us rise above our discontent. The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation. Page 238. I \ 2 3 4 f 5 ■ ■r^^^Vl J 6 t^p^Jj^PpJJ J 1 7 1 8 J 9 1 10 V II 12 13 14 ! 15 m^r^ Svi^Rfe^s^^^^i^ri^ ^yT^v^^s^^^>w •^"^■SoSot?! "^^ A^^^ TV^ ]SR5^S^3K ^e^^S« -^/^ ^P % tbousanD bappig tbings tbere be 1 /^■J^S^''^ ^ X(^°<^ ^ 1 3 aO^^lKy ^ ^?ckO^ ^S ^vovm)!. til IK^o^w^^ tfe^^^^0rii^H^r^S 'Zvoill all come bacft — tbc fire's glow, Zbc oia clocft tfcMng sweet an& slow, BnD fatbet in tbe arm*cbair wiOe. cq PD ©t bf&e*an5s6ecft on cellar stairs? ^0 set tbc outer worlD assoaft, Hba^ welcome bim wltb gleeful noise. I s/ji^isESkxf Mow fiooD 'twill be to turn anD leaD ^ ^be scboolmate's name best loveD bie tbee. a frienDsbip strong an& stauncb anD true, Zb^ taitb In buman*ftlnD sball l^eep, _^^k\ i^^P M /ffi.ar.12 a venture unDertafte. 1 d^^^ 1 -^^S> ffl m 8^^ 0m 1 p^^j^Vf^ iKi ^^M: w kVr Mbat is tbls booft most llRe unto! B tbousanO gambols rise In view, BnO ^ct nejt morn from clouDs were tree. ::v>cSIS^t\c 3Looft back! ^bs furrows, sown anD tflleO» ■RT^TBS^ W-i^ ^^TO ^^^r 5^m^^ ^T^S^Q^t^jfTSL-^V/A ^^^ ^^ lEacb wftb a barvcst was well filled ! ? ^P P ^ K § ^ ^ ^ ^ ^M ^^ ^ ^ 8 m ^ ^ ^s ^S B ^^^^ S K^^w^ ^'-^^ArJ''^^^^L^^f^^!L^^^^^ Ty^^?^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^g^^^^ ^^ 1^^ Uv^jfrlDtiSSr^ ^^r^^is^n*'^^^ ^^11 70^0e Strengtb for tbis own tar journei^inea, tC^E^^j^^ ?3 anD not spreaD vcrDurc all aroun5. Jldditional Good Times Records o^^^^ ^^m»^J^^^^^ fe^ A^^fE^^3^r^6^^ffi>^ ^ Jldditional Good Times Records 1 ■ 1 ^ 1 ' ^^ w^ ^^^^m^m^^i ^^M ^^^ ^m ^^^N ^^^A ^ \>l!iiiKMN)^S^ %^ ^H ^^4 L- V LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 994 392 A