` I 'll try to answer it . But as I have no girls , my opinion is n't worth much and will probably shock her , as I shall tell her to let them run and play and build up good , stout bodies before she talks about careers . They will soon show what they want , if they are let alone , and not all run in the same mould . ' ` Here 's a fellow who wants to know what sort of a girl he shall marry , and if you know of any like those in your stories . ' ` Give him Nan 's address , and see what he 'll get , ' proposed Ted , privately resolving to do it himself if possible . ` This is from a lady who wants you to adopt her child and lend her money to study art abroad for a few years . Better take it , and try your hand at a girl , mother . ' ` No , thank you , I will keep to my own line of business . What is that blotted one ? It looks rather awful , to judge by the ink , ' asked Mrs Jo , who beguiled her daily task by trying to guess from the outside what was inside her many letters . This proved to be a poem from an insane admirer , to judge by its incoherent style . ` TO J.M.B. ` Oh , were I a heliotrope , I would play poet , And blow a breeze of fragrance To you ; and none should know it . ` Your form like the stately elm When Phoebus gilds the morning ray ; Your cheeks like the ocean bed That blooms a rose in May . ` Your words are wise and bright , I bequeath them to you a legacy given ; And when your spirit takes its flight , May it bloom aflower in heaven . ` My tongue in flattering language spoke , And sweeter silence never broke in busiest street or loneliest glen . I take you with the flashes of my pen . ` Consider the lilies , how they grow ; They toil not , yet are fair , Gems and flowers and Solomon 's seal . The geranium of the world is J. M. Bhaer . ` JAMES ' While the boys shouted over this effusion -- which is a true one -- their mother read several liberal offers from budding magazines for her to edit them gratis ; one long letter from a young girl inconsolable because her favourite hero died , and ` would dear Mrs Bhaer rewrite the tale , and make it end good ? ' another from an irate boy denied an autograph , who darkly foretold financial ruin and loss of favour if she did not send him and all other fellows who asked autographs , photographs , and auto-biographical sketches ; a minister wished to know her religion ; and an undecided maiden asked which of her two lovers she should marry .
These samples will suffice to show a few of the claims made on a busy woman 's time , and make my readers pardon Mrs XXXXX if she did not carefully reply to all .
Bhaer Jo Nan Phoebus Solomon aflower autographs daily liberal years