after that, though we still liked to hear the Patty stories, we felt that the magic of them was gone,--that they were only stories, like “Blue-beard” or “Jack and the Beanstalk.” CHAPTER II. MORE ABOUT OURSELVES. Julia and Flossy did not content themselves with writing plays and telling stories. They aspired to making a language,--a real language, which should be all their own, and should have grammars and dictionaries like any other famous tongue. It was called Patagonian,--whether with any idea of future missionary work among the people of that remote country, or merely because it sounded well, I cannot say. It was a singular language. I wish more of it had survived; but I can give only a few of its more familiar phrases. MILLDAM--Yes. PILLDAM--No. MOUCHE--Mother. BIS VON SNOUT?--Are you well? BRUNK TU TOUCHY SNOUT--I am very well. CHING CHU STICK STUMPS?--Will you have some doughnuts? These fragments will, I am sure, make my readers regret deeply the loss of this language, which has the merit of entire originality. As to Flossy’s talent for making paper-dolls, it is a thing not to be described. There were no such paper-dolls as those. Their figures might not be exactly like the human figure, but how infinitely more graceful! Their waists were so small that they sometimes broke in two when called upon to courtesy to a partner or a queen: that was the height of delicacy! They had ringlets invariably, and very large eyes with amazing lashes; they smiled with unchanging sweetness, filling our hearts with delight. Many and wonderful were their dresses. The crinoline of the day was magnified into a sort of vast semi-circular cloud, adorned about the skirt with strange patterns; one small doll would sometimes wear a whole sheet of foolscap in an evening dress! That was extravagant, but our daughters must be in the fashion. There was one yellow dress belonging to my doll Parthenia (a lovely creature of Jewish aspect, whose waist was smaller than her legs), which is not even now to be remembered without emotion. We built houses for the paper-dolls with books from the parlor table, even borrowing some from the bookcase when we wanted an extra suite of rooms. I do not say it was good for the books, but it was very convenient for the dolls. I have reason to think that our mother did not know of this practice. In the matter of their taking exercise, however, she aided us materially, giving us sundry empty trinket-boxes lined with satin, which made the most charming carriages in the world. The state coach was a silver-gilt portemonnaie lined with red silk. It had seen better days, and the clasp was broken; but that did not make it less available as a coach. I wish you could have seen Parthenia in it!