I wonder if any child takes the delight in these that I shared in my own childhood with the cronies who spent long Saturday afternoons writing the letters. Sometimes I was Robinson Crusoe, and the letters were from my friends, who advised me what to do. Sometimes it was fairies who wrote, sometimes giants ; and often we were all grown up, and wrote about our families, and all our difficulties in bringing them up. A letter-box can be fastened in one corner of the workroom, and opened on any day selected. A real postman's bag can be made, and "one of the boys "chosen to deliver them all. Save the stamps from old letters, and cut them down. And old envelopes can also be turned, and cut into smaller ones, if you have not the little boxes of little stationery sold now for children. I know of one family where one child went to Italy, and another to Norway, - make-believe, of course, — and each wrote to the other all the things she saw. No matter what you choose to write about, there is always excitement in opening the letters, for sometimes the big people drop in one; and it may be a little scolding, which can be more easily borne in this way, or perhaps an invitation or a plan for something pleasant.

In a chapter of this nature not much more than hints and suggestions can be given. There are countless quiet games for a rainy day or home evenings. Jack-straws are old-fashioned, but always interesting. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge has an excellent set of games, published by Charles Scribner's Sons; and there are consequences, and the game of authors, and word-games with letters, to say nothing of dominos and checkers, loto, fox-and-geese, solitaire, and the whole host of puzzles and games in general. Only do not have too many; for, though names multiply, many are simply old acquaintances in new dress. Your own invention can often plan some new form ; and, in the chapters that follow, you will find many which can be altered to suit circumstances.