? The children
like his stories well enough to write letters about him--or perhaps
Bolivar himself--ah!"

The second "ah" uttered by Partington indicated that a thought had
flashed across his mind--a thought not particularly complimentary to
Bolivar Wiggins.

"Perhaps," he said, slowly, "Bolivar writes these letters to the editor
himself--and if Bolivar, why not I?"

It was a tempting--alas, too tempting--opportunity to supply the editor
of _Nursery Days_ with the needed evidence that stories of the "Tommy
and the Huckleberry-tree" order were the most popular literary novelty
of the day, and to it, in a moment of weakness, Partington succumbed. I
regret to have to record the fact that he passed the balance of the
night writing letters from fictitious "Sallies, aged six," "Warry and
Georgie, twins, aged twelve," and others dwelling in widely separated
sections of the country, to the number of at least two dozen, all of
which, being an expert penman, Partington wrote in a diversity of
juvenile hands that was worthy of a better cause. Here are two samples
of the letters he wrote that night:

I.

"NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

"I have taken the _Nursery Days_ for one year,
and think it is a very nice paper. For pets I
have two cats, named Lady Tompkins and
Jimpsey. I have tried to solve the 'Caramel
Puzzle,' but think one answer is wrong. I go
to school, and there are forty-four scholars in
my room. My little kitty Jimpsey sleeps all day
long, and at night she is playful. She wakes
me up in the morning, and then waits till I get
up. Who is Mr. Smithers who wrote that beautiful
story about 'Tommy and the Huckleberry-tree'?
Everybody of all ages, from baby to my
grandmother, likes it and hopes you will print
more by that author.

"SARAH WINKLETOP."

II.

"YONKERS, N. Y.

"Our Uncle Willie in New York sends us _Nursery
Days_ every week. We like it immensely, and every
one tries to get the first reading of it. "Tommy
and the Huckleberry-tree" is a splendid story.
Papa bought six copies of _Nursery Days_ with that
in it to send to my little cousins in England.

"JIMMIE CONWAY RHODES."

Others were more laudatory of Partington's story, some less so, but each
demanded more of his work.

These written, Partington made arrangements to have them posted from the
various towns wherein they were ostensibly written