VIII. USE OF MONEY

IX. AUNT HARDING'S RETURN




AUNT HARDING'S KEEPSAKES.


CHAPTER I.


GUESSING.

"Can you guess," said Louisa to her sister, as they sat at their work
in the summer-house, "can you guess what aunt Harding will give us, as
a keepsake, before she goes away?"

"No, I have not thought about it," said Emma; "and aunt has lately
given us so many pretty things, that we can scarcely expect any more
for a long time to come. There is my doll and its cradle, you know,
and your baby-house and furniture, how much money they cost! No, I do
not think aunt intends to give us anything else."

"But I am quite sure she will," replied Louisa; "for I was going past
mamma's dressing-room this morning, when the door was a little way
open, and I heard aunt Harding say, 'I should like to give the dear
girls something really useful, which they may value as they grow
older.' I did not hear anymore, because mamma has always told us it is