Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: "Promise that I may make the flowers you wear on your wedding-day," whispered Lizzie, kissing the kind hand held out to help her rise--PAGE 85.] [Illustration: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN OMNIBUS.--_Page_ 187.] AUNT JO's SCRAP-BAG. MY GIRLS, ETC. [Illustration: Scrap Bag Vol. IV] BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT, AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN," "AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL," "LITTLE MEN," "HOSPITAL SKETCHES," "EIGHT COUSINS," ETC. BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. 1878. _Copyright,_ BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT. 1877. _Cambridge: Press of John Wilson & Son._ CONTENTS. I. My Girls II. Lost in a London Fog III. The Boys' Joke, and who got the best of it IV. Roses and Forget-me-nots V. Old Major VI. What the Girls did VII. Little Neighbors VIII. Marjorie's Three Gifts IX. Patty's Place X. The Autobiography of an Omnibus XI. Red Tulips XII. A Happy Birthday AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG. I. MY GIRLS. Once upon a time I wrote a little account of some of the agreeable boys I had known, whereupon the damsels reproached me with partiality, and begged me to write about them. I owned the soft impeachment, and promised that I would not forget them if I could find any thing worth recording. That was six years ago, and since then I have been studying girls whenever I had an opportunity, and have been both pleased and surprised to see how much they are doing for themselves now that their day has come. Poor girls always had my sympathy and respect, for necessity soon makes brave women of them if they have any strength or talent in them; but the well-to-do girls usually seemed to me like pretty butterflies, leading easy, aimless lives when the world was full of work which ought to be done. Making a call in New York, I got a little lesson, which caused me to change my opinion, and further investigation proved that the rising generation was wide awake, and bound to use the new freedom well. Several young girls, handsomely dressed, were in the room, and I thought, of course, that they belonged to the butterfly species; but on asking one of them what she was about now school was over, I was much amazed to hear her reply, "I am reading law with my uncle." Another said, "I am studying medicine;" a third, "I devote myself to music," and the fourth was giving time, money, and heart to some of the best charities of the great city. So my pretty butterflies proved to be industrious bees, making real honey, and I shook hands with sincere respect, though they did wear jaunty hats; my good opinion being much increased by the fact that not one was silly enough to ask for an autograph. Since then I have talked with many girls, finding nearly all intent on some noble end, and as some of them have already won the battle, it may be cheering to those still in the thick of the fight, or just putting on their armor, to hear how these sisters prospered in their different ways.