Do you wish to see her-- Bertie's future wife, The maid who'll share his fortune, Brighten all his life? This is how I see her, In my fancy's eye: Tall and fair and slender, Cheerful, good and spry; Eyes as deep as pansies, Lips like cherries red, And a wealth of sunshine Growing on her head. Kind her voice, and gentle, Sweet her merry laugh,-- There, I've told you wonders, Yet not told you half. Nothing could be better Than this lovely maid, Now let's see him get her:-- Hard work, I'm afraid. * * * Monroeville, O. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have for some time been anxious to take the ST. NICHOLAS, but did not have the money. I was told that if I would gather hickory-nuts enough to amount to the sum, I might take it. I gathered three bushels, sold them, sent for the magazine, and, last evening, received two numbers, with which I was very much pleased.--Your faithful reader, CLARA LINDSLEY. * * * Danbury, Ct. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: A party of us boys read about "Hare and Hounds" in the October number, and we tried the game the Saturday after. We all spent the day at my cousin's; he lives on a farm where there is plenty of room for us to run. Our "hare" got a good start, and though we ran hard and followed up the "scent" well, we did not catch him. We caught our next "hare" though. We treat to apples instead of candy. We think the game is great fun. I have taken ST. NICHOLAS for two years and I think it is splendid. I liked the "Bass Cove Sketches," and mamma laughed heartily when I read them to her. I am ten years old, and I hope to take you till I am twenty.--Your constant reader, WILLIE H. ALLEN. * * * A CORRESPONDENT sends us the following account of some incidents of the great flood in Virginia last November: After several days of rain, the James and other rivers rose very suddenly, and caused great destruction of life and property, carrying away houses, bridges, crops, and cattle, and covering large sections of the country with water. There were no lives lost where the flood came during daylight, though many families lost food, clothing, and their homes; but where the sudden rage of the waters burst forth at night, many people were swept away and drowned. Some one saw among the poor animals struggling with the waters, a poor, frightened little rabbit, on a plank, running from side to side, as it tossed and pitched up and down on the waves.