arvey, and his _fidus Achates_--poor old Dr.
Fisher!--I so often want things "looked up"--and we do lack books
here!...

_Fredericton_. November 3, 1868.

... I _must_ tell you what Mrs. Medley said to me this evening as we
came out of church. She said, "It is an odd place to begin in about
it, but I must thank you for the end of Mrs. Overtheway. The pathos of
those old Albatrosses! The Bishop and I cried over them. I suppose
it's the highest compliment we can pay you to say it is equal to
anything of your Mother's, and that you are a worthy daughter of your
Mother." Wasn't that a splendid bit of praise to hear all these miles
away from one's dear old wonderful old Mother?...

To H.K.F.G.

_Fredericton N.B._
Tuesday, December 8, 1868.

... Tell the dear Mother, please, that I got dissatisfied with my
story, and _recast it_ and began again--and got on awfully well, and
was very well satisfied with it. But Rex read what was done and
doesn't care for it a bit--in fact quite the reverse, which has rather
upset my hopes. However, he says he cannot properly judge till it is
finished, so I am going to finish it off, and if he likes it better
then, I shall send it next mail. It is a regular child's story--about
Toys--not at all sentimental--in fact meant to be amusing; but as Rex
read it with a face for a funeral, I don't know how it will be. I
don't somehow think the idea is bad. It is (roughly) this: A pickle of
a boy with a very long-suffering sister (I hope you won't object to
her being called Dot. You know it's a very common pet name, and it
"shooted" so well) gets all her toys and his own and makes an
"earthquake of Lisbon" in which they are all smashed. From which a
friend tells them the story of a dream she is supposed to have had
(but I flattered myself the dream was rather neatly done up) of
getting into fairyland to the Land of Lost Toys--where she meets all
her old toys that she destroyed in her youth. Here she is shown in a
kind of vision Dutch and German people making these toys with much
pains and industry, and is given a lot of material and set to do the
like. Failing this she is condemned to suffer what she inflicted on
the toys, each one passing its verdict upon her. Eventually a doll
(MY Rosa!!!!) that she had treated very well rescues her, and
the story reverts to the sister and brother, who takes to amusing
himself by establishing himself as toy-mender to the establishment,
instead of cultiv