n addressed to the lady from
Philadelphia, with the number of her street. But it must have been read
by their neighbors in their own town post-office before leaving; it must
have been read along its way: for by each mail came piles of postals and
letters from town after town, in answer to the question, and all in the
same tone: "Yes, yes; publish the adventures of the Peterkin family."

"Publish them, of course."

And in time came the answer of the lady from Philadelphia:--"Yes, of
course; publish them."

This is why they were published.

THE LADY WHO PUT SALT IN HER COFFEE.

THIS was Mrs. Peterkin. It was a mistake. She had poured out a delicious
cup of coffee, and, just as she was helping herself to cream, she found
she had put in salt instead of sugar! It tasted bad. What should she do?
Of course she couldn't drink the coffee; so she called in the family,
for she was sitting at a late breakfast all alone. The family came in;
they all tasted, and looked, and wondered what should be done, and all
sat down to think.

At last Agamemnon, who had been to college, said, "Why don't we go over
and ask the advice of the chemist?" (For the chemist lived over the
way, and was a very wise man.) Mrs. Peterkin said, "Yes," and Mr.
Peterkin said, "Very well," and all the children said they would go too.
So the little boys put on their india-rubber boots, and over they went.

Now the chemist was just trying to find out something which should turn
everything it touched into gold; and he had a large glass bottle into
which he put all kinds of gold and silver, and many other valuable
things, and melted them all up over the fire, till he had almost found
what he wanted. He could turn things into almost gold. But just now he
had used up all the gold that he had round the house, and gold was
high. He had used up his wife's gold thimble and his great-grandfather's
gold-bowed spectacles; and he had melted up the gold head of his
great-great-grandfather's cane; and, just as the Peterkin family came
in, he was down on his knees before his wife, asking her to let him have
her wedding-ring to melt up with an the rest, because this time he knew
he should succeed, and should be able to turn everything into gold; and
then she could have a new wedding-ring of diamonds, all set in emeralds
and rubies and topazes, and all the furniture could be turned into the
finest of gold.

Now his wife was just consenting when the Peterkin family bu