Thrifty Scissors: A letter from Grandpa about Easter eggs and ducks

Then one little fellow said, "Mister, will you sell me a hen; maybe she will lay us some red eggs.‚"

Dear Children:

I am going to write something about Easter eggs and ducks. Two little boys came into our house this morning and wanted to buy some Easter eggs - the kind that their Grandma bought of us last week; but we did not have the kind that suited. They wanted blue eggs and red eggs, and all kinds of colored eggs. They said that Grandma told them that our hens laid all kinds of colored eggs. Their sadness at the thought of getting no blue and red eggs was so great that I thought their little hearts would break and bleed. I would have given a dollar apiece for just two colored eggs, rather than to have looked into their little faces and said no. Then one little fellow said, "Mister, will you sell me a hen; maybe she will lay us some red eggs.‚" I took these little men to a corner grocery and bought each of them the biggest stick of red-striped candy I could find.

I drove to the country yesterday. I wish every little boy and girl could live in the country. There are so many things to see. Everything we eat and wear grows in the country. Nearly all of the hen's nests are in the country, and nearly all the bird's nests are there. Nearly all the good apples grow in the country, and it beats all how much home-made fun a boy can have at his Grandpa's home on a farm. Where do all the cows come from, and the little bossies? They all grow up in the country; and oh, so many flowers! I tell you children, Easter only comes once a year; but flowers last all Summer, and just keep on coming. Yesterday, we stopped at a farm house to keep out of the rain. Mrs. Nelson had an old mother duck, and ten little ducks; and she declared they would drown if they stayed out in the rain. So, out she went hunting for the ducks, and after hunting an hour she found old mother duck and her little ducks swimming in a big pond of water in a pasture near the house. The feathers are so thick and close on a duck that they can stay in the water all day and not get wet, and their feet are so wide that they can push themselves along through the water like so many little boats.

Love, Grandpa.