Why, only this morning she hushed me up from laughing so loud, and stopped my romping up and down the stairs with Lester.

She said it was noisy and unladylike--and only just a little while ago she just loved to have me laugh and play and be happy! And when I said so to her this morning, she said, yes, yes, of course, and she wanted me to be happy now, only she wished to remind me that very soon I was going back to my father in Andersonville, and that I ought to begin now to learn to be more quiet, so as not to trouble him when I got there.
Now, what do you think of that?
And another thing.

What _do_ you suppose I am learning about _now_?
You'd never guess.Stars.Yes, _stars_! And that is for Father, too.
Mother came into my room one day with a book of Grandfather's under her arm.

She said it was a very wonderful work on astronomy, and she was sure I would find it interesting.

She said she was going to read it aloud to me an hour a day.