THE DOLL AND HER FRIENDS. 73

great object of my existence as well as ever, by
giving innocent pleasure, and being useful in my
humble way.

No other dolls now visited me; but I was not
deprived of the enjoyments of inanimate society, for
I soon struck up an intimate acquaintance with an -
excellent Pen in the inkstand by my side, and we
passed our leisure hours very pleasantly in commu-
nicating to each other our past adventures. His
knowledge of life was limited, having resided in that
inkstand, and performed all the writing of the fa-
mily, ever since he was a quill. But his expe-
rience was wise and virtuous; and he could bear
witness to many an industrious effort at improve-
ment, in which he had been the willmg mstrument ;
and to many a hard struggle for honesty and inde-
pendence, which figures of his writing had recorded.
I liked to watch the good Pen at his work when the
father of the family spent an hour in the evening in
teaching Susan and her brothers to write; or when
the careful mother took him in hand to help her in
balancing her accounts, and ascertaining that she
owed no one a penny, before she ventured upon any
new purchase. Then my worthy friend was in his
glory; and it was delightful to see how he enjoyed
his work. He had but one fault, which was a
slight tendency to splutter; and as he was obliged