iza Burns,
one of the boarders, told us if we would hold our breath we could pick
up one of the girls from the floor and raise her up over our heads with
one finger of each hand, if the girl held her breath, too. We tried it
with Anna and did it, but we had such hard work to keep from laughing I
expected we would drop her. There is nothing very spirituelle about any
of us. I told Grandmother and she said we reminded her of Jemima
Wilkinson, who told all her followers that the world was to come to an
end on a certain day and they should all be dressed in white and get up
on the roofs of the houses and be prepared to ascend and meet the Lord
in the air. I asked Grandmother what she said when nothing happened and
she said she told them it was because they did not have faith enough. If
they had, everything would have happened just as she said. Grandmother
says that one day at a time has always been enough for her and that
to-morrow will take care of the things of itself.

_May,_ 1858.--Several of us girls went up into the top of the new Court
House to-day as far as the workmen would allow us. We got a splendid
view of the lake and of all the country round. Abbie Clark climbed up on
a beam and recited part of Alexander Selkirk's soliloquy:

"I'm monarch of all I survey,
My rights there are none to dispute:
From the center, all round to the sea,
I'm lord of the fowl and brute."

I was standing on a block and she said I looked like "Patience on a
monument smiling at Grief." I am sure she could not be taken for
"Grief." She always has some quotation on her tongue's end. We were down
at Sucker Brook the other day and she picked her way out to a big stone
in the middle of the stream and, standing on it, said, in the words of
Rhoderick Dhu,

"Come one, come all, this rock shall fly
From its firm base, as soon as I."

Just then the big stone tipped over and she had to wade ashore. She is
not at all afraid of climbing and as we left the Court House she said
she would like to go outside on the cupola and help Justice balance the
scales.

A funny old man came to our house to-day as he wanted to deposit some
money and reached the bank after it was closed. We were just sitting
down to dinner so Grandfather asked him to stay and have "pot luck" with
us. He said that he was very much "obleeged" and stayed and passed his
plate a second time for more of our very fine "pot luck." We had boiled
beef and dumpli