to his mother's watchful care of his diet, and to his bathing. An
hour was allowed for his daily bath, and for brushing out his
luxuriant, silken hair. This was one of my duties, and no doubt it was
that scrupulous care that gave it so rare a shade.

"As for his food, it was quite peculiar. He never ate baker's bread,
nor indeed any bread prepared by other hands than his mother's or mine,
and he was not given meat or cake--with the exception of oatmeal
cake--while candies, or indeed sugar in any form, butter, and salt were
rigidly excluded from his diet; but white grapes, and every choice
fruit that this or foreign markets afforded, he was allowed to eat in
abundance, and the result of this system was a sturdy constitution, and
a complexion unparalleled for beauty.

"I said that he never ate butter; but cream and milk were given him
instead."

"What sort of toys did he have, mamma?" I inquired. "I can never
imagine him playing with dolls like an ordinary child."

"He never did," replied mamma; "his toys, like his meals, were
peculiar. One of the largest rooms in the house was chosen for his
nursery, and as his mother would not have a carpet upon the floor, it
was scrubbed daily. Here his playthings were kept--a singular
assortment one would think them, but your aunt seldom gave him what
would simply amuse him for the moment, but sought rather to surround
him by objects that would suggest ideas to his mind--on a plan somewhat
like that of the _Kindergarten_ system, but more poetic, and entirely
original with herself. He had lovely pictures, and a real violin,
while the shops were constantly searched for whatever was curious,
instructive, or beautiful.

"Pickie's mind and conversation were very unlike those of the children
even of our best families, for he never had children for playfellows,
and those friends whom his mother permitted to be near him were of the
most cultivated and noble character. His language consequently was as
choice as that of the minds who surrounded him, and very quaint it
sounded from a child's lips. At this time Margaret Fuller was with us,
and Pickie lived in most intimate relations to this pure, high-minded
woman.

"In her care to prevent Pickie from knowing of the existence of
wickedness and cruelty in this world, your Aunt Mary would rarely
permit him to converse long with any save the chosen few that I have
mentioned, lest the innocence of his child-mind should be shocked by