"You bad, bad girl," said my father. "Why did you trample my flowers?"

"I did not want to trample your flowers. I wanted to plant my acorn. I wanted to see it grow." And my little sister began to cry.

"Your acorn won't grow if you take it out," said my father. "Give it to me."

Father took a bottle, put some water in it and then put the acorn into it.

"Now you can see it grow," said Father.

My little sister put the bottle with the acorn at the window. She looked at it all the time, but it did not grow. She put the bottle near her bed and looked at it in the morning and in the evening. But it did not grow.

"Put the bottle at the window and go and play with your doll," said my mother.

My little sister put the bottle at the window and went to play with her doll. Soon she forgot about her bottle.

One day she looked at the bottle and saw a little green shoot.

"I see a little green shoot," cried my sister.

She was very glad and showed her bottle-tree to everybody.

"Now we can plant the acorn," said my father.

He went to the shed, took the spade and planted the acorn near our house.

The bottle-tree grew and grew, and now it is a big tree, bigger than my sister who is also big now.

IV. My Pretty Doll

When I was a little girl, I had a new doll. Its face was pretty, its eyes were pretty, its dress was pretty, too. My doll could open and close its eyes and say Ma-ma.

I did not play with my doll. I was afraid to break it