Page 145 - The Story of My Lif

you see leaves and ferns and bark on the coal? Men go down into the ground and

dig out the coal, and steam-cars take it to the large cities, and sell it to people to
burn, to make them warm and happy when it is cold out of doors.

Are you very lonely and sad now? I hope you will come to see me soon, and stay
a long time.

With much love from your little friend HELEN A. KELLER.

TO MISS DELLA BENNETT

Tuscumbia, Ala., Jan. 29, 1889.

My dear Miss Bennett:—I am delighted to write to you this morning. We have
just eaten our breakfast. Mildred is running about downstairs. I have been
reading in my book about astronomers. Astronomer comes from the Latin word

astra, which means stars; and astronomers are men who study the stars, and tell
us about them. When we are sleeping quietly in our beds, they are watching the
beautiful sky through the telescope. A telescope is like a very strong eye. The
stars are so far away that people cannot tell much about them, without very
excellent instruments. Do you like to look out of your window, and see little
stars? Teacher says she can see Venus from our window, and it is a large and
beautiful star. The stars are called the earth’s brothers and sisters.

There are a great many instruments besides those which the astronomers use. A
knife is an instrument to cut with. I think the bell is an instrument, too. I will tell
you what I know about bells.