CHAPTER XXIII 



LETTERS FROM FRANCIS AND SALLIE 



Another letter and a box has come from 

 Francis. This time the letter was not to Grand- 

 mother, nor to Tommy. It was to me. Sallie 

 has written me a long letter too, so we know now 

 what Francis Is doing, and all about Sallie's " in- 

 tentions." 



Francis is not going to be an artist after all. 

 He would rather be a forester. This is not be- 

 cause he thinks It would be fun to chop trees down, 

 but because they are so strong and useful and just 

 as beautiful as the flowers. He thinks every one 

 should know how to care for trees, and when they 

 should be cut down and others planted to take 

 their places. He Is already studying about each 

 one and learning how to tell it from its neighbors, 

 and why it is useful. 



Francis wrote besides that flowers were bloom- 

 ing everywhere in New England, but that the best 

 of all were the Laurel and the Pitcher-plants. He 

 found out that neither of them grew near our 

 home, and that was the reason he sent us one of 

 each in the box. 



They were not much faded, although they had 

 come so far by the post, for Francis had packed 



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