Produced by David Edwards, Annie McGuire and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain material produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.) Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag Louisa M. Alcott AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG. PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT, AUTHOR OF 'LITTLE WOMEN,' 'AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,' 'LITTLE MEN,' 'HOSPITAL SKETCHES.' _NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION_ LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY (_LIMITED_) St. Dunstan's House FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C. 1892 _All rights reserved_ PREFACE. As grandmothers rummage their piece-bags and bundles in search of gay odds and ends to make gifts with which to fill the little stockings that hang all in a row on Christmas Eve, so I have gathered together some stories, old and new, to amuse the large family that has so rapidly and beautifully grown up about me. I hope that when they promenade in night-caps and gowns to rifle the plump stockings, the little 'dears' will utter an 'Oh!' of pleasure, and give a prance of satisfaction, as they pull out this small gift from Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, 1871-72. CONTENTS. PAGE MY BOYS. 1 TESSA'S SURPRISES. 45 BUZZ. 75 THE CHILDREN'S JOKE. 85 DANDELION. 116 MADAM CLUCK AND HER FAMILY. 127 A CURIOUS CALL. 141 TILLY'S CHRISTMAS. 156 MY LITTLE GENTLEMAN. 170 BACK WINDOWS. 188 LITTLE MARIE OF LEHON. 200 MY MAY-DAY AMONG CURIOUS BIRDS AND BEASTS. 222 OUR LITTLE NEWSBOY. 235 PATTY'S PATCHWORK. 244 _MY BOYS._ Feeling that I have been unusually fortunate in my knowledge of a choice and pleasing variety of this least appreciated portion of the human race, I have a fancy to record some of my experiences, hoping that it may awaken an interest in other minds, and cause other people to cultivate the delightful, but too often neglected boys, who now run to waste, so to speak. I have often wondered what they thought of the peculiar treatment they receive, even at the hands of their nearest friends. While they are rosy, roly-poly little fellows they are petted and praised, adorned and adored, till it is a miracle that they are not utterly ruined. But the moment they outgrow their babyhood their trials begin, and they are regarded as nuisances till they are twenty-one, when they are again received into favor.