"Gracie may go as far as the fence and wait for Essie there," said her mother. And clinging to her sister's hand, carrying her favorite doll, the little one went down the lawn, across the meadow and there cheerfully relinquished her hold and set about hunting violets while Essie went on to the country post-office, where she secured the coveted letter. On her return she found Gracie hanging upon the fence. "Did you get a letter?" she asked. "Yes; and now we will hurry home and mamma will read it to us." "Did my papa write it?" asked the child. "Yes, dear; papa wrote it to us, maybe there will be a little letter in it for Gracie." "With what did he write it?" "With a pen, of course." "What is a pen?" asked the little questioner. "O Gracie Carter! you can ask the most questions of any child that ever was born, I do believe!" exclaimed Essie. "But what is a pen?" persisted Gracie. "A pen is a thing to write with," replied Essie despairing of evading the questions. "Who made a pen?" "I don't know," was Essie's frank reply. And then she fell to thinking unheeding Grade's questions. After the letter had been read and talked over Essie said: "Mamma, Gracie wanted to know who made pens, and I couldn't tell her; a thing we use so constantly too! I would like to know something about them myself." "Well, dear, can't you find out?" "If we were at home I could study it up in the library, but we haven't any books here excepting poems and Bibles and the dictionary." "Is that the way you rank your books?" asked Mrs. Carter smiling. "No; but it is such a matter of course to have the Bible that I was not going to mention it, then I just happened to think of the dictionary." "Well, go to the dictionary and see what you find there." Essie turned over the pages and read, "An instrument used for writing, formerly made of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now also of other materials, as gold and steel." "Why, mamma, is that true, pens can be made of a quill? I never heard of such a thing." "There _are_ a few things that my daughter has never yet heard of." "Now, mamma, you are laughing at me! But truly I never heard of a pen being made of a quill. Dear me, I wish I had a cyclopædia. The next time we come out here I mean to bring a whole set!" "Perhaps I could tell you something about pens," said Mrs. Carter quietly. "O mamma! I beg your pardon," exclaimed Essie coloring slightly. "I ought to have known that you could! I have heard papa call you a walking cyclopædia."