"Very strange indeed," said they, "and a great piece of luck for you; now, instead of your country costume, you must buy a new dress, such as the city girls wear." "No," said I, "I cannot take your advice in this matter; the fine dresses of the town girls do not suit the country girls at all." Madame Von Frame applauded my resolution, and said, "That many a country maiden had laid aside with her rustic costume, the purity of country manners, and in the smart dress, and smarter bonnets of the city girls, had become as vain and frivolous as they." She told me to employ my money for some better purpose; and what better purpose can I put it to, than sending it to you? Send a part of it to dear George. Mrs. Mayer, my mistress, was very much delighted to hear that I could spin, and requested me to spin her some fine yarn for a piece of cloth, during the winter. This I readily consented to do. But I cannot get on without my own nice spinning wheel, which my father made especially for me, a little before his death. Can you send it to me by the carrier? I wish we could sit together in the evenings, with our wheels humming in concert, how happy we should be! But still as I sit by the fire-light, and the wheel is humming its own home music, my thoughts will go wandering far away, and my heart itself leaps up with gladness, as I think of my old home, and think, as I am sure I may, that you will be thinking of me, and that in our own dear little parlor, sitting beside your spinning wheel, you still remember, with your old love,— Your loving daughter, MARGARET KAURNER. [Illustration] LETTER V. GEORGE TO MARGARET. DEAREST SISTER:—God bless you! Mother has sent me, through the post, three letters which you have written to her, and first-rate scholarly letters they are, dear Margaret, and do you great credit; and besides these letters, two of the gold pieces which you gave her. Why Margaret, you recollect the fairy tales, that amused our childhood in days gone by. It really seems that the good fairies have you under their keeping, and are going to make you as rich as a queen. But more than with the letters, and more than with the gold, was I pleased with your honesty. Virtue is a brighter jewel than ever flashed from emperor's crown! What a strange commotion the letters made! My comrades all know that my dear mother is very poor, and when they heard of the money which the letter contained, and of the mysterious manner in which my mother obtained it, they came to the conclusion that the gold was stolen. The affair came to the ears of my captain, who, though a young officer, is yet a man of great prudence and courage. He sent for me. "How is this, Kaurner?" said he, "you appear to have grown suddenly rich, and the story of your wealth is a very romance in itself. Have you got the letters with you?"