"And can you cook and sweep and sew?" asked the parrot.

"Yes, indeed, and many other things."

"Oh! will you stay and live with us?" asked the monkey.

"What will you give me?" asked Filbert.

"A good home," said the cat.

"Brand-new clothes," said the parrot.

"And a brass, a silver, and a gold penny every week," said the monkey.

[Illustration]

So Filbert staid, and was as happy as a bird in the one-eyed house. She
sang so cheerfully as she went about her work that things seemed almost
to do themselves for her. The monkey watched in admiration whenever she
swept the floor, and wondered why there was no dust. They all learned to
love her dearly, and were as good as fairy godmothers to her, giving her
everything she wished, and her pile of pennies grew so fast that she
became quite rich; and, at last, if she had chosen, could have married a
prince.

[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.]

The present Number closes the first volume of YOUNG PEOPLE, and we wish
to express our great pleasure at the thought that thousands and
thousands of children who one year ago were strangers to us are now our
little friends, and, we might say, seem to us like one large family. We
have done our best to amuse and instruct them, and to make them happy;
and by giving them weekly a rich fund of beautiful pictures, stories,
poems, and instructive reading, to awaken in them noble thoughts and
impulses, a desire for information, and also to teach them to think for
themselves.

Through the letters addressed to our Post-office Box we have become
acquainted with large numbers of our readers, and feel as much interest
in their little enjoyments, their pets, their studies, and their plans
for the future as if they were personally known to us.

Our Post-office Box is the most complete department of its kind in
existence. We print all the letters we possibly can, and would be glad
to print every one if our space allowed, for each contains some pretty
bit of childish life which we are sure would be delightful to other
little folks. Our letters come to us from all parts of the globe--from
every corner of the United States and Canada; from England, Germany,
France, and Italy; from the West Indies and South America; and even from
distant islands far across the sea. It would seem that wherever there
are English-speaking children, even in the most remote localities, YOUNG
PEOPLE has found its way to their hands; and critical and exacti