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 SECONl> SERIES.— No. 6. 
 
 THE 
 
 SS^^^IS^ 
 
 OF 
 
 
 K 
 
 NEW i. uitja.: 
 GGINS & KELLOGG, 
 
 123 & 125 William St 
 
i 
 
TOE 
 
 IBAiMU'ff 
 
 OF 
 
 flEAWMIEIEII 
 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 KIGGINS & KELLOGG, 
 
 123 5. 125 William St 
 
BBH'V 
 
mm BASiE 
 
 OF 
 
 STRAA¥BERRIES, 
 
 -^^^^ 
 
 On one of the fine roads 
 which lead from Boston to its 
 many beautiful suburbs, is an 
 agreeable residence, called by 
 its possessor the Hermitagf-^ 
 At the time the folio win or inci- 
 dent occurred, it was early im 
 the year — -the season when is 
 gathered the first strawberries 
 which are sold in the city. 
 
 Lucy, the daughter of a rich 
 merchant of Boston, the pro* 
 
4 THE BASKET 
 
 prietor and occupant of the 
 Hermitage, was sitting, late in 
 the afternoon of a chilly spring 
 day, close by a good fire, in 
 one of the comfortable chairs 
 with which the parlor was fur- 
 nished. She had been read- 
 ing, and, becoming sleepy, had 
 dropped into a gentle slumber. 
 She was just dreaming of 
 spending, for a useless orna- 
 ment for the head, a dollar 
 which her father had that af- 
 ternoon given her, as a slight 
 reward for some good manage- 
 ment on her part in the house- 
 hold economy, when she was 
 suddenly awoke by a cry in the 
 avenue ; and, looking out the 
 window, she saw a bareheaded 
 little girl, who had stumbled, 
 and, in saving herself from fall- 
 
wm 
 
 OF STRAWBERRIES. b 
 
 ing, had scattered several bas- 
 kets of strawberries, wliicli she 
 had carried on her head. The 
 tears flowed plentifally down 
 the cheeks of poor Rosetta, for 
 that was the young girl's name, 
 ** Oh, my poor mother ! you 
 had only these to gain a sup- 
 port. Oh, my poor sick father; 
 what will become of you !'' 
 
 Her touching words deeply 
 affected the heart of Lucy. 
 *^ Little girl,'' said she, beck- 
 oning to her, '' what were the 
 strawberries wortli, the loss of 
 which you so much lament V^ 
 " There is only one basketful 
 left uninjured out of six ; they 
 were all worth a dollar, and 
 that is more than I could earn 
 in a month ! Oh ! what will 
 become of my poor parents !" 
 
f 
 
 THE BASKET 
 
 
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K34i 
 
 OF STRAWBERRFES. 7 
 
 '^ Oh, do not cry/' said Lucy; 
 '' give me that one, and take 
 this dollar. You say it is just 
 their value, and how o;lad I am 
 to make a o^ood use of it." Ro- 
 setta o;ave the remaiiiino; has- 
 ket, received the money with a 
 grateful and happy heart, and 
 then I'eturned to her parents. 
 
 Rosetta's father was in fee- 
 ble health, confined to the 
 house, where he sat shivering 
 over the scanty fire, while her 
 mother had to avail herself of 
 every honest means that lay in 
 her power, to procure a sub- 
 sistence ; and with Rosetta's 
 assistance, they were barely 
 enabled to live from day to 
 day. And a gi'eat assistance 
 she was, for she shrank fi*om 
 no labor, no matter what tb9 
 
■"■"•^^^Dwiiwajai^aRaiiwiBiSfiHBM!? 
 
 8 
 
 THE BASKET 
 
 
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OF STRAWBERRIES. 9 
 
 exposure or fatigue attending 
 it might be, providing she by 
 that means made her mother's 
 task lighter, or her father's sit- 
 uation more comfortable. Oft- 
 en could she be seen brmging 
 soft water from a pure stream, 
 some distance from the house, 
 to enable her mother to get 
 throuG^h her washing: with less 
 labor. Often, on a cold autumn 
 day, when they were suffering 
 from want of fuel, and the chill 
 November wind was finding its 
 way through the many crevices 
 into their ill-protected apart- 
 ments, rendering their situation 
 still m.ore uncomfortable, she 
 would start out and go a fuJl 
 half-mile to the woods, gather 
 a bundle of sticks from the 
 brushwood and broken branch* 
 
■■m 
 
 10 
 
 THE BASKET 
 
 
 L>::^^-- "-■ 
 
 es, and bring them home on 
 her head. 
 
 But to return to the Hermi- 
 tagc^ Lucy, wishmg to kee]) 
 her good deed a secret, carried 
 the purchased strawberries to 
 
OF STRAWBERRIES. 11 
 
 her chamber. Her father hacl^ 
 however, observed all that had 
 passed from his wiiidov^, and. 
 w^hen the hght-hearted little 
 girl ran down stairs to her 
 mothei*, he took the basket of 
 strawberries quietly to his own 
 room. On joining his family 
 in the parlor, he mentioned 
 that he expected a party of 
 fi'iends, with several strangers 
 of distinction, to dine with him 
 on the following day ; and de- 
 sired that nothino; should be 
 wanting in the entertainment. 
 After chatting witli her parents 
 for some time, Lucy returned 
 to her chamber, to enjoy some 
 of her strawberries, which she 
 expected to find the best she 
 had ever eaten. But alas ! 
 they were nowhere to b4^ 
 
12 THE BASKET 
 
 found ; and the questions she 
 asked of the servants were so 
 indu^ect that they could not 
 even guess what she referred 
 to. On the following day the 
 company assembled. A most 
 sumptuous dessert was pre- 
 sented. It was composed of 
 every invention of luxury ; the 
 most delicious sweetmeats, ices 
 a V Italienne^ and pyramids of 
 various fruits. But every one 
 remarked the absence of straw- 
 berries, which at this season 
 were rare. Just then a ser- 
 vant entered with Lucy's lost 
 basket, and placed it on a ped- 
 estal of flowers which stood in 
 the centre of the table, Full 
 of delighted surprise, she ut- 
 tered an of exclamation of joy, 
 and her face, covered with 
 
OF STRAWBERRIES. 13 
 
 blushes, revealed that some 
 mystery was connected with 
 the basket. Her father ex- 
 plained it, adding, '' I could not 
 think of offering any other 
 strawberries to my friends ; 
 for even a porcelain vase, filled 
 with the most uncommon fruits, 
 could not be compared with 
 the simple basket of Rosetta.'' 
 Everyone warmly commended 
 Lucy, and insisted on her dis- 
 tributing the contents of the 
 basket with her own hands ; 
 and when it was emptied, what 
 was her delight and astonish- 
 ment to find a coral necklace, 
 with a gold locket, set with 
 pearls, on which was engraved, 
 '' RosETTA to her benefac- 
 ti'ess," 
 
 J 
 
14 
 
 LUCY I,UCKLESS. 
 
 LUCY LUCKLESS, 
 
 m^M^^^ 
 
 
 ^^Oh, what an unfortunate 
 girl I am ! Betty has broken 
 my beautiful, large, china pitch- 
 er, which father gave me last 
 Christmas, with my rrame on it, 
 in large gilt letters."— ^^ I told 
 you yesterday, Lucy, it would 
 happen, if you sent her with it 
 3o often to the spring, instead 
 of giving her the stone one/^ 
 
■■■■iBHHHMaBi^iiBaWHMMm^ 
 
 LUCY LUCKLESS. 15 
 
 , " I am so unlucky ! the bell 
 is ringing, and I can not find 
 my geography." 
 
 ^' You left it lying on the ta- 
 ble last nio^ht, Lucv." 
 
 ^' My beautiful geranium !" 
 ciied Lucy ; " the frost has 
 killed it. Anna Mansfield's is 
 fresh and green — but that is 
 just the way — everything that 
 belongs to me dies or is ru- 
 ined." Lucy did not remem- 
 ber that she left her geranium 
 in the piazza all night. 
 
 '' This is black Monday/' 
 said Lucy ; " I was too late foi 
 prayers, and father looked an- 
 gry at me : then I could not 
 find my bag, and was tardy — 
 then one of the girls upset my 
 inkstand on my writing-book, 
 and the dog tore up my exer- 
 
16 LUCY LUCKLESS. 
 
 cises ; and I could not take tea 
 at my aunt's, because I had not 
 a dress fit to be seen." 
 
 Poor Lucy ! She no doubt 
 is very unhappy ; but if she 
 had risen half an hour earlier, 
 she would have been in time 
 for prayers, and if she had put 
 her bag in a proper place on 
 Saturday, it v^ould have been 
 there on Monday. If her ink- 
 stand had been in its place, it 
 could not have been knocked 
 over. Was the floor a place 
 for her exercises ? If she had 
 attended to her wardrobe on 
 Saturday, before she went to 
 svalk, she might have taken tea 
 with her aunt. Oh, how much 
 troub.e a little care and regu- 
 larity vfould save us ! 
 
>■ 
 
 3 5 .= 
 
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 iijl 
 
 Mi 
 
 111 
 
 ill 
 
 KIGGIXS & KELLOGG, 
 
 Publishers, Booksellers, & Stationers, 
 
 128 & 125 William St 
 Al8o Maiiufticturers of every description of 
 
 ACCOUI^T BOOM§, 
 MEMORANDUMS and PASS BOOKS, 
 
 |li a large slock of which is constantly kept 
 on hand. Tlielr assortment of 
 
 o O ii O O L 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS, 
 
 And of Foreign and Domestic 
 
 STATIONERY, 
 
 Is very complete, to the inspociion of which 
 
 they would invite Country Mkkciiants 
 
 before purchasing e'lsewhere. 
 
 ALSO P[JBLISn, 
 
 BSDFIEIiD'S TOY BOOKS, 
 Four Series of Twelve Books each 
 
 BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTEATED, 
 
 FricA On A Two, Four, a fid Six CefiU. 
 
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