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Mary had a cracked saucer to play with, and Laura had a beautiful cup with only one big piece broken out of it Charlotte and Nettie, and the two little wooden men Pa had made, lived in the playhouse with them Every day they made fresh leaf hats for Charlotte and Nettie, and they made little leaf cups and saucers to set on their table The table was a nice, smooth rock

Sukey and Rosie, the coere turned loose in the woods now, to eat the wild grass and the juicy new leaves There were two little calves in the barnyard, and seven little pigs with the pen

In the clearing he hadin his crops One night he came in from work and said to Laura: “What do you think I saw today?”

She couldn’t guess

“Well,” Pa said “When I orking in the clearing this e of the woods stood a deer She was a doe, a uess ith her!”

“A baby deer!” Laura and Mary guessed together, clasping their hands

“Yes,” Pa said, “her faith her It was a pretty little thing, the softest fawn color, with big dark eyes It had the tiniest feet, not s, and the softest muzzle

“It stood there and looked atwhat I was It was not afraid at all”

“You wouldn’t shoot a little baby deer, would you, Pa?” Laura

said

“No, never!” he answered “Nor its Ma, nor its Pa No rown up We’ll just have to do without fresh meat till fall”

Pa said that as soon as he had the crops in, they would all go to town Laura and Mary could go, too They were old enough now

They were veryto town They could not do it very well, because they were not quite sure what a toas like They knew there was a store in town, but they had never seen a store

Nearly every day after that, Charlotte and Nettie would ask if they could go to town But Laura and Mary always said: “No, dear, you can’t go this year Perhaps next year, if you are good, then you can go”

Then one night Pa said, “We’ll go to town tomorrow”