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THE LITTLE LETTER WRITERS.

One day, after little Oscar and Oren had learned their lessons, Mr. Preston, their teacher, told them they might sit down by their table, and write each of them a letter to their cousin Perry.

At first the boys looked at each other, as if they hardly knew what to do; and pretty soon Oscar spoke and told Mr. Preston, that they could not write any thing good enough for Perry to afford to pay the postage.

"But," said Mr. Preston, "I am going right by there to-morrow, and I will call and leave the letters, and so they will not cost your cousin a penny; and I am sure he will be glad to hear from you."

Now when little Thomas Tyson heard Mr. Preston talking to Oscar and Oren, about writing to their cousin, and saw them laying out their paper to begin, he thought it would be a fine thing for him to write a letter too.

So without stopping to think, he took out of his pocket a piece of an old pencil, that he had bought of John Trader for three pins, and be gan to scratch and scrawl on the first page of his new School Reader.

But Mr. Preston always looked about his school with a sharp eye, and he soon saw what little Thomas Tyson was trying to do.

"Thomas!" said Mr. Preston, (6 Thomas! what are you doing, my

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son? come here and let me see about that."

Mr. Preston knew that Thomas had always meant to be a good boy and he spoke this in a very pleasant way, and after looking to see what he had been trying to write in his Reader, he gave it back to him.

Then Mr. Preston leaned back, and put up his hand, and looked just as you see him in the picture here, and talked with Thomas very kindly.

Among other things, he told him he was quite too young to write a letter, and that he must learn to spell and read better, for, said he, I am afraid that even Oren, as old as he is, will make rather bad work, spelling.

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MORE ABOUT THE LETTER WRITERS.

By the time that Mr. Preston had got through with Thomas, and sent him away to his seat, Oren had got his letter done, and brought it to Mr. Preston, to ask him if it would do.

But you know I just told you, that Mr. Preston was afraid Oren would show himself a bad speller. Well, sure enough, it was so. But I hope you, my children, either of you, will be able to correct it. Now here is the letter:

"MY DEER COZEN,

I am now at school. Our teacher told Oscar and me, if we would right you, he was going by your house, and he would stop and leave the letters.

Oscar can beat me spelling, for I don't try as hard as he does; for he thinks he must spell every word just so. But as long as every body nose what my words mean, I don't see what ods it makes.

I hope when you get this, you will right me back as soon as you can, or come and see me. I forgot to tell you, I have got me a fine new book of hisstory.

Your affectionate cozen,

OREN."

Now as you have pointed out all Oren's bad spelling, I will tell you what Mr. Preston said to him, as he looked at the letter.

"Deer Cozen,' why, Oren," said Mr Preston, "is that the way you treat your cousin? you call him a wild, animal, to cheat, in the outset.

"Then again, 'I r-i-g-h-t,' that is, I set you right, just as if he were wrong; and then here you have n-o-s-e-'every body nose.' Why, Oren, what sort of nose is that?"

At this all the scholars broke out laughing, and Oren felt so bad, that Mr. Preston was now willing to show him how to correct his words, and

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