Second book of tales Author:Eugene Field Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: MR. AND MRS. BLOSSOM THE name we meant to call her was Annette, for that was a name I always liked. 'Way back, before I got married, I made up my mind that if... more » 1 ever had a daughter I should call her Annette. My intention was good enough, but circumstances of a peculiar nature led me to abandon the idea which in anticipation afforded me really a lot of pleasure. My circumstances have always been humble. I say this in no spirit of complaint. We have very much to be thankful for, and we are particularly grateful for the blessing which heaven has bestowed upon us in the person of our dear child — our daughter who comes from school to-night to spend Thanksgiving with us and with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Blossom. I must tell you how we became acquainted with the Blossoms. When our baby was two years old I used to sit of mornings, before going to my work, on the front steps, watching the baby playing on the sidewalk. This pleasantest half- hour of the day I divided between the little one and my pipe. One morning, as I sat there smoking and as the little one was toddling to and fro on the sidewalk, a portly, nice-looking old gentleman came down the street, and, as luck would have it, the baby got right in his path, and before I could get to her she tangled herself all up with the old gentleman's legs and cane. The old gentleman seemed very much embarrassed, but, bless your soul! the baby liked it! '' A pretty child — a beautiful child!" said the old gentleman, and then he inquired: "Boy or girl?" "Girl," says I, and I added: "Two years old and weighs thirty pounds." " That must be a great deal for a little girl to weigh," said the old gentleman, and 1 saw that his eyes lingered lovingly and yearningly upon the child. I am sure he wanted to say more, but all at once, as if ...« less