Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 134, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 June 1910 — HUNTING SOUVENIRS. [ARTICLE]

HUNTING SOUVENIRS.

Many books about children come, and then disappear to make way for others, but the stories of Louisa M. Aleett are still as popular as when they were first written. Naturally, therefore, the house that she once lived in at Concord is never omitted from the route of the tourists who are constantly flocking to that historic and literary center. Admiration for the author and desire for souvenirs ojf her past home manifest themselves in many curious ways, as the relatives of Miss Alcott who still live there nave frequent opportunity to observe. One day in early summer one of the present dwellers in the interesting old house happened to glance out of the window, and saw a little group of three middle-aged women gazing over the fence. This was nothing unusual, but the women seemed to be in animated discussion, and presently one of them, evidently a bolder spirit than the others, opened the gate and stepped boldly in on the lawn. Her companions followed, after a moment’s hesitation. In a little while the watcher saw them all down on their hands and knees, crawling about anxiously, and every now and then making frantic grabs at something in the grass. Accustomed though he was to the vagaries of tourists, this performance puzzled the observer. He became more and more curious, especially when one of the visitors made an extra frantic grab at the grass, captured some invisible object, and put it carefully In her handkerchief. He put on his hat and made his way toward them over the soft lawn. “Have you lost something?” he Inquired, politely. The three looked up. They were frankly trespassing and evidently disconcerted at being discovered. But the bolder spirit answered: “You don’t mind if we take a few of these grasshoppers, do you?” “Not at all,” replied the householder. “But—may I ask—what in the world are you going to do with ’em?” The three went back to the exploration of the short grass. “Souvenirs,” said the bolder spirit, over her shoulder. “When we get home we’ll put them grasshoppers in a bottle and folks will he mighty interested and pleased to know thdt they came ofFn Louisa M. Alcott’s lawn.”