ver your true friend,

ALLIE BERTRAM.

* * * * *

Salem, Mass.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I want to tell you about my little turtle. I got
him up in the country last summer, and have had him about six months.
I keep him in a bowl of water, with a shell in it. In summer I feed
him with flies, and in winter I give him pieces of cooked meat about
the size of a fly. My turtle's shell is nearly round, and he is small
enough to be put in a tumbler, and then he can turn round as he likes.
I named him "Two-forty" (a funny name), because, when you put him
down, he stands still, looks around a minute, and then starts off on a
run,--Your friend and reader,

JOHNNY P. WILLIS.

* * * * *

Camp Grant, Arizona.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Your coming every month fills us with delight. We
cannot wait to read you separately, so mamma reads you aloud after the
lamps are lighted, the first evening you are here. Papa lays aside his
pen to listen, just like any boy, and so we all enjoy your pages at
once. I have one little sister, but no brother. We live in camp, in
far-away Arizona; and, although the "buck-board" brings the mail in
every other day, it takes a long while for a letter to come from the
East.

There is a pet deer here. He comes out to "guard mounting" on the
parade-ground, and trots after the band when the guard passes in
review. Every one is kind to him; even the dogs know they must not
chase him.--Your true friend,

MOLLIE GORDON.

* * * * *

New Brunswick, N.J.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I would like to tell you of the nice times that the
country children have, although they have no parks. In summer they can
go on picnics, and they have a nice garden to play in. And most of the
children have little gardens of their own to plant things in,--one for
flowers and the other for vegetables. Then, in the winter-time, they
can go coasting, sliding and skating; then, last but not least,
sleigh-riding on the lovely, pure white snow.

I, for one, would not be a city child. If I lived in the city, I
could not have my old pet hen. Good-by, dear ST. NICHOLAS.--From your
friend--

MATHILDE WEYER.

P.S.--I have a cat by the name of Pussy Hiawatha.

* * * * *

Covington, Ohio.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Would you like to know how I came to get you? I
worked for you. My brother made a bank for me out of a cigar-b