sufficiently to make very legible letters. Quite as much so as your
first attempts with your left hand, just now, Jean."

"Think of it!" exclaimed Cricket. "I'm going to try it to-night when we
go to bed, Eunice."

"It was a funny sight to see him get ready for his school work. When he
arrived at school his brother washed and dried his feet carefully, and
put on him an old pair of loose slippers to keep them clean. His slate
or paper would be put on the floor before him, and he would slip his
foot out of his slipper, grasp his pencil, and begin. By the end of a
year, he really wrote wonderfully well."

"Oh-h!" sighed Zaidee. "Helen and I practised lots, last winter, with
mamma, and we can't write much now. We writed every day, too."

"Where is the man now?" asked Eunice. "What became of him?"

"When he was a boy of fourteen or so, a travelling circus manager heard
of him, and offered him a large salary to go with him to be exhibited,"
answered grandma. "He got a large salary, and after that helped support
his family. He learned to do many other things with his toes, later,
people said. For instance, he drew beautifully, and could even hold a
knife and whittle a stick. The family soon left here, and I never knew
anything more about him. So, my little Jean, aren't you encouraged to
practise writing with your left hand, with good hope of success?"

"Yes, indeed, grandma," answered Cricket, taking her pencil, and going
to work again, awkwardly but energetically. And I may just say, in
passing, that she worked to such good effect, that in ten days' time her
left-handed writing, though it slanted backward, was firm and legible.

"There!" exclaimed Cricket, with a long sigh, after her first half-hour
was over, as she rose to stretch her arm above her head, "I've written
so long that I'm so tired that I can hardly put one foot before the
other."

"That would be a more appropriate sentiment if you were my no-armed
man," said grandma, smiling.

"I'm just _wild_ with keeping still, grandma! Resting makes me _so_
tired. I want to go rowing or riding or walking. I'd like to jump over
the moon, as far as my feelings go, but it makes my arm ache if I move
round much."

"Read aloud to us," suggested grandma, "and perhaps Eunice will hold
the wool for me while you do."

Cricket liked to read aloud, and she got a book very willingly.

"Here's a lovely story," she said, "all about battles and fighting, and
exciting things. '