Jessie by Walter Aimwell — Read

The "Home Wreath" continued to make its appearance promptly every Saturday afternoon, and had of late acquired new popularity, by an attractive feature it had adopted. It was now illustrated, almost every week, by original drawings, usually executed by Miss Lee or Jessie. These sketchings were small, and not very elaborate, but they served to give a new interest to the sheet. They were entitled "_Family Portraits_," and at first were confined to likenesses of creatures kept on the farm or in the house. Rover, the faithful spaniel, was sketched to the life, and so was Goldy, the cat. The two horses, Charley and Kittie, Cora, the calf, and a hen with a brood of chickens, were also honored with places in the gallery. No one thought of extending this collection of portraits beyond the domain of the brute portion of the family, until, one Saturday afternoon, the whole house was startled by an editorial announcement in the "Wreath," to the effect that "the portrait of one of its contributors would be given next week. " The editor positively refused to let any one into the secret, and no one else appeared to know anything about the matter. Curiosity was excited almost to a painful degree, among the young folks, and all put on and wore for a week their most amiable looks, each one anxious to appear as pretty as possible on paper, if he or she were the favored individual. After a week of suspense, Saturday came, and with it came the "Wreath."

Kate got first possession of the sheet, and as she opened it, and the annexed "portrait" disclosed itself, labelled "_Our Sociable Contributor_," there was a peal of laughter from the other members of the family who were peeping over her shoulders, that woke the echoes under the old roof. Marcus was of course the hero of the picture. He was an attentive reader of the news of the day, and had a habit of getting so absorbed in the paper as sometimes to become oblivious to remarks addressed to him, so that the boys used to say the newspaper made him deaf. The likeness was unanimously voted a capital one, inasmuch as there was no mistaking who it was intended for.