DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS. – Would you like to know how I came to send you these stories? Well, first I will say they were written for my little son, and when they were finished I put them away in the drawer thinking they would lie there quietly till he was ready to hear them. But stories are just like children, – they love to go about making people happy.

One day they escaped from their little drawer home and kept com­ing into my thoughts. All day I allowed them to wander about. thinking that by sundown they would surely go back to their rest; but no such thing happened.

So in the evening, just at children's hour, I asked them what they wished to do.

This is what they answered – "Oh, please, please! Put us into a book and let us go to the homes of little children who need us. They will love us and we can make them very happy. Let us go and we will come back when your little boy is ready for us, and bring him a great many good wishes."

I could not refuse their request, so with love I send them on a visit to you.

THE LITTLE BOY'S MAMA.

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Thirteen Jewelled Letters

"I'll spell it for you," said the little old man, laying the letters in a row on the ground 

How Greed Destroyed Itself

"What a snug little house the gray cat had," commenced the fox

The Wonderful Castle of Cause and Effect

They went spinning through the air with the wind blowing the little girl's hair out straight behind

The Greatest Thing in the World

"How shall I slay the dragon?" said the prince

How a Foolish Wolf Learned to be Satisfied

"Ha, ha!" he cried, now they shall see a sight that will open their eyes 

The Princess's Looking Glass

Would the princess look at him? Indeed not!

The Best Thing that Begins with "O"

She pulled and she tugged, but she couldn’t get loose

The Little Gold Ring that Knew One's Thoughts

A maid-servant took it out and put it on her finger, Flash! It turned black

The Tree of Leaden Apples

"Whet good will the blessing of such as you do me?" said the princess

The Talking Stones