Her hair is very long, and the wave in it is natural.
The little boy is Peter. He is the loveliest and the dearest
of all of us. The second picture is of me tying up the crimson
rambler. I thought you would like to see what a wonderful rose
it is. I was standing in a chair, training the long branches
and tacking them against the house, when a gentleman drove by
with a camera in his wagon. He stopped and took the picture and
sent us one, explaining that every one admired it. I happened
to be wearing my yellow muslin, and I am sending you the one
the gentleman colored, because it is the beautiful crimson of
the rose against the yellow house that makes people admire it
so. If you come to America please don't forget Beulah, because
if you once saw mother you could never bear to disturb her,
seeing how brave she is, living without father. Admiral
Southwick, who is in China, calls us Mother Carey's chickens.
They are stormy petrels, and are supposed to go out over the
seas and show good birds the way home. We haven't done
anything splendid yet, but we mean to when the chance comes. I
haven't told anybody that I am writing this, but I wanted you
to know everything about us, as you are our landlord. We could
be so happy if Cousin Ann wouldn't always say we are spending
money on another person's house and such a silly performance
never came to any good.
I enclose you a little picture cut from the wall paper we want
to put on the front hall, hoping you will like it. The old
paper is hanging in shreds and some of the plaster is loose,
but Mr. Popham will make it all right. Mother says she feels
as if he had pasted laughter and good nature on all the walls
as he papered them. When you open the front door (and we hope
you will, sometime, and walk right in!) how lovely it will be
to look into yellow hayfields! And isn't the boatful of people
coming to the haymaking, nice, with the bright shirts of the
men and the women's scarlet aprons? Don't you love the white
horse in the haycart, and the jolly party picnicking under the
tree? Mother says just think of buying so much joy and color
for twenty cents a double roll; and we children think we shall
never get tired of sitting on the stairs in cold weather and
making believe it is haying time. Gilbert says we are putting
another grand piano leg on the walls, but we are not, for we are
doing all our own cooking and dishwashing and saving the money
that a cook would cost, to do lovely things for the Yellow
House. Thank you, dearest Mr. Hamilton, for letting us live in
it. We are very proud of the circular steps and very proud of
your being an American consul.
Yours affectionately,
NANCY CAREY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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