A TRUE STORY ABOUT A GIRL


Once there were four little girls who lived in a big, bare house, in the
country. They were very poor, but they had the happiest times you ever
heard of, because they were very rich in everything except money. They
had a wonderful, wise father, who knew stories to tell, and who taught
them their lessons in such a beautiful way that it was better than play;
they had a lovely, merry, kind mother, who was never too tired to help
them work or watch them play; and they had all the great green country
to play in. There were dark, shadowy woods, and fields of flowers, and a
river. And there was a big barn.

One of the little girls was named Louisa. She was very pretty, and ever
so strong; she could run for miles through the woods and not get tired.
She had a splendid brain in her little head; it liked study, and it
thought interesting thoughts all day long.

Louisa liked to sit in a corner by herself, sometimes, and write
thoughts in her diary; all the little girls kept diaries. She liked to
make up stories out of her own head, and sometimes she made verses.

When the four little sisters had finished their lessons, and had helped
their mother wash up and sew, they used to go to the big barn to play;
and the best play of all was theatricals. Louisa liked theatricals
better than anything.

They made the barn into a theatre, and the grown-up people came to see
the plays they acted. They used to climb up on the hay-loft for a stage,