"Yes, I believe you can," said her brother. "And now, suppose we go down
and see Aunt Matilda, and have a talk with her about it."

"Just wait until I get my bonnet," said Kate. And she dashed into the
house, and then, with a pink calico sun-bonnet on her head, she came
down the steps in two jumps, and the brother and sister, together,
hurried through the woods to Aunt Matilda's cabin.

Harry and Kate Loudon were well-educated children, and, in many
respects, knew more than most girls and boys who were older than they.
Harry had been taught by his father to ride and to swim and to shoot as
carefully as his school-teacher had taught him to spell and to parse.
And he was not only taught to be skillful in these outdoor pursuits, but
to be prudent, and kind-hearted. When he went gunning, he shot birds and
game that were fit for the table; and when he rode, he remembered that
his horse had feelings as well as himself. Being a boy of good natural
impulses, he might have found out these things for himself; but, for
fear that he might be too long about it, his father carefully taught him
that it was possible to shoot and to hunt and to ride without being
either careless or cruel. It must not be supposed that Harry was so
extremely particular that there was no fun in him, for he had discovered
that there is just as much fun in doing things right as in doing them
wrong; and as there was not a boy in all the country round about who
could ride or swim or shoot so well as Harry, so there was none who had
a more generally jolly time than he.

His sister Kate was a sharp, bright, intelligent girl, rather inclined
to be wild when opportunity offered; but very affectionate, and always
as ready for outdoor sports as any boy. She could not shoot--at least,
she never tried--and she did not ride much on horseback, but she