•Iff 
 
 By Henty A.Skute 
 
 Jg} aint • finished • in ^ 
 
 The Real Diary 
 of a R eal Boy 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 HI 
 
 lilll 
 
 00022229081 
 

Digitized by the Internet Archive. 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil 
 
 http://archive.org/details/sequilorthingswhOOshut 
 
"SEQUIN" 
 
 Of Things Whitch Aint 
 Finished in the First 
 
 By 
 HENRY A. SHUTE 
 
 Published by 
 
 The Everett Press 
 
 Boston, Mass., Mcmiv 
 
Copyright, 1904, by Henry A. Shute. 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
i4 s e a F I L 
 
 99 
 
 OR THINGS WHITCH AOT 
 FINISHED IN THE FIR8-f 
 
 SEPT. 7, 186- Gosh, what do you think, 
 i last nite father and mother and me and 
 Keene and Cele and aunt Sarah was sit- 
 ting at supper when father, he sed i am a going to 
 read your diry tonite. Gosh i was scart for i hadent 
 wrote ennything in it for a long time, so after 
 supper i went over to mister Watsons and asked 
 him if he dident want to see father and he sed he 
 wood and i went home and told father mister Wat- 
 son wanted him to come over jest as quick as he 
 cood and father went over, i knew father woodent 
 ever think of it agen. father and mister Watson 
 Beanys father set and talked about what they 
 usted to do and father sed do you remember Wats 
 that time you and Bill Yung and Brad Purinton 
 and Jack Fog went down to, and then he saw me 
 
 1 
 
*'• S e a u i 1 " 
 
 and Beany lissening and he sed, you boys run 
 away and he giv me 5 cents and me and Beany 
 went over to old Si Smiths for some goozberies 
 but i have got to wright that old diry some more 
 whitch is pretty tuf, i have forgot whether it was 
 brite and fair sence i wrote my last diry or not, 
 but ennyway it is brite and fair today. Lots of 
 things have hapened sense i wrote my last diry. 
 Beanys father is a poliseman now and Beany feels 
 prety big. Beany hadent better say mutch to me 
 ennyway. the stewdcats have come back and they 
 has been lots of fites. Scotty Briggam licked 2 
 stewdcats in one day. one day me and Pewt and 
 Beany was standing in frunt of the libary and 2 
 stewdcats went in and Pewt threw a peace of dry 
 mud and it hit the stewdcat rite in the neck and 
 bust and went down his coller and he see us laffin 
 and he walked rite out to where we was standing 
 and he sed sorter sisy like whitch of you boys 
 throwd that, and Pewt sed jest like him, if you are 
 2 
 
i 
 " S e qui I »' 
 
 so smart you had better find out, and he grabed 
 Pewt and throwd him rite in the guter and roled 
 him round in the mud and hit him 3 good bats in 
 the ear. me and Beany run and Pewt he was mad 
 becaus we dident pich in and help him, but lots 
 of times me and Beany has got licked and Pewt 
 never helped us. i told Father about it and he sed 
 he was glad of it and he wished the stewdcats had 
 licked me and Beany two. 
 
 Sept. 8, 186- brite and fair, the band played 
 tonite downtown, we all went down but mother 
 and aunt Sarah and the baby and Franky and 
 Georgie and Annie who was all two little except 
 mother and aunt Sarah who had to stop and take 
 care of them, the band played splendid and 
 Fatty Walker jest pounded the base drum as 
 hard as he cood. most of the fellers run round 
 and played tag and hollered but i set still, i cant 
 see how fellers can run round and holler when a 
 band plays, they tried to pull me out of my seet 
 
 3 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 but i giv Beany a good punch, when we came 
 
 home mother asked if i had behaived and father 
 
 sed i set there jest like a old potato, he sed i 
 
 » 
 
 dident know much ennytime but when i herd 
 
 music i dident know ennything. 
 
 Sept. 9, 186- Will Simpkins is coming to visit 
 us. he is my cuzon and is older then i am and 
 every time he comes he licks me. i dont dass to 
 tell becaus he is company, so this time i am 
 going to get Gim Erly or Tady Finton to lick 
 him. he is coming next Saterday. he lives in a 
 city and wears a neckti every day and feels prety 
 big and says i am a countryman. 
 
 I see Gim Erly today and he says he will lick 
 time out of Will for a nife and a slingshot, i had 
 lost my nife so i told Beany and he sed he wood 
 give Gim his nife if he wood let him see the fite. 
 Will licked Beany last summer and Beany aint 
 forgot it. then i dident have enny slingshot and 
 so i told Fatty and Fatty he sed he wood give 
 4 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 Gim his slingshot if he cood see the fite. it 
 seemed kinder mean not to tell Pewt, so i told 
 Pewt and he sed he would give me his fathers 
 pigs bladder when it was killed if i wood let him 
 see the fite, that makes 2 bladders i am going to 
 have this fall. Oliver Lane is going to give me 
 his, they will make bully footballs, i gess i can 
 get Potter to give me a leest flycatches egg if 
 i will let him see the fite. 
 
 Sept. 10. Brite and fair. Will Simpkins is 
 coming tomorrow, i bet he will wish he hadent 
 after Gim Erly gives him that licking. Potter 
 gave me a red wing blackbirds egg and a chippys 
 egg and 2 blewjays wings to see the fite. 
 
 Sept. 11. Brite and fair, it was the best fite i 
 have seen since Cris Staples licked Charlie Clark 
 you had aught to have seen it. Will came this 
 morning he was all dressed up and had his shoes 
 blacked, i knew that wood make Gim want to 
 lick him. i felt kinder mean when he came be- 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 caus he seamed glad to see me, and mother sed i 
 hope you boys will have a real nice time together, 
 and i sed i gess we will, so after dinner i asked 
 him to go over to Beanys and we went over and 
 Gim was there and Potter and Pewt and Fatty 
 and Billy Swett came with Fatty and he wis- 
 pered he wood giv me a whailbone bow. Gim 
 sed to me easy have you got them things and i 
 sed yes and Gim sed no fooling and i sed hope to 
 die and i crosed my throte and i sed you have got 
 to lick him first and he sed he wood lick him. so 
 we went over in the high school yard to play 
 prisners bass, well prety soon Gim sed Will 
 cheeted, and Will said he dident, and Gim sed do 
 you mean to call me a Her and Will sed he dident 
 cheet and Gim sed he wood giv him a paist on 
 the nose, and Will sed he want man enuf and 
 Gim scrached a line in the dirt and told Will not 
 to dass to step over it and then Will put a chip 
 on his sholeder and told Gim not to dass to nock 
 6 
 
"Sean 
 
 95 
 
 it off and Will sed if he hit Gim he wood nock 
 him so far he woodent ccme down at all and Gim 
 sed if he hit him there woodent be ennything 
 left of him but a red neckti, and Will told Gim 
 he was a freckled faced mick and Gim told Will he 
 was a curly haired nigger and just then Fatty 
 give Will a push rite into Gim and they went at 
 it and Gim licked time out of Will and got him 
 down and lammed him until he hollered enuf. 
 then Will he went home balling and i had to go 
 two and when we got home mother sed it was a 
 shame and she wood tell father when he got 
 home, when father got home mother told him 
 and sed it was a shame that Willy, she calls him 
 Willy, i am glad my name aint Willy, i had 
 rather be called Skinny or Polelegs or Plupy then 
 Willy, well she sed it was a shame that Willy 
 coodent play with me without having that dred- 
 ful Erly boy fiting him and she wanted father to 
 go up to Mr. Tucks where Gim lives and tell him 
 
 7 
 
" S e q u i 1 ♦• 
 
 about it. Well father sed boys always fit and she 
 mustent wurry about it he gessed Willy wood get 
 over it. but he told me not to ask Gim Erly 
 down here agen. so after supper when i had to 
 go for the yeest i ran up to Gims and giv him 
 the nife and the slingshot and told him not to 
 tell. 
 
 Sept. 12. Brite and fair. Will has got a black 
 eye and a scrached nose. Nellie has got well and 
 we had a ride today after church and i let Will 
 drive, in the afternoon Beany and Pewt came 
 over and we had a shooting mach with the whail- 
 bone bow behind the barn, i told Beany and 
 Pewt not to tell for if they did father woodent let 
 us go together agen. Fatty and Potter and Billy 
 Swett wont tell ether. 
 
 Sept. 13, 186- Brite and fair, today we had a 
 
 good time, mother let me invite Beany and Pewt 
 
 and Nipper Brown to supper for company for 
 
 Will. Pewt coodent come becaus he shot one of 
 
 8 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 his fathers hens with his arrow rifle jest like i 
 shot my hen whitch was eating eggs and Mister 
 Purinton Pewts father woodent let him come. 
 i gess if father had been at home for supper i 
 wood have got a licking but he dident get home 
 til the 7 oh clock train, well we had been raising 
 time up in my room and when we went down to 
 supper i pulled a chair out when Nipper went to 
 set down and he set rite down on the floor bang 
 and grabed the table cloth and pulled of his plate 
 and cup and sauser and Beanys sauser and they 
 came rite down on his head and broak to smash. 
 Nipper was scart but mother picked him up and 
 said he needent wurry for she dident care for the 
 dishes and asked him if he was hurt and said it 
 was my fait and she told me i had aught to be 
 ashamed and I hadent aught to have company if 
 i dident know how to treet them, she dident 
 send me to bed becaus she had to be polite to 
 Beany and Nipper and so i was all rite, after 
 
 9 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 supper we played domminoes til the nine oh clock 
 bell rang and then Beany and Nipper went 
 home. 
 
 Sept. 14. Brite and fair. Will went home to- 
 day i was sorry he went, we had a good time 
 and i never knew him to be such a good feller be- 
 fore, i gess it did him good to get a lickin. 
 father says it always does me good to get a good 
 lickin. before he went he got me to throw a 
 ball easy at him and he let it hit him in the eye 
 so he cood tell his folks that a ball hit him in the 
 eye, so he wood not have to tell a lie to his 
 father about his black eye. a feller feels a good 
 deal better when he doesent have to lie to his 
 folks, when i usted to hook in swiming i usted 
 to stick my head in the rane water barril so I 
 cood tell father how i wet my hair, i dident like 
 to do it sometimes becaus the barril was full of 
 little wigglers but i had ruther do that then have 
 to tell a lie, ennyway i gess all the wigglers that 
 10 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 got into my hair died becaus they never bit me. 
 father says they turn into musketers. 
 
 Sept. 15, 186- Brite and fair, i forgot to say 
 that i giv Will the whailbone bow that Billy Swett 
 giv me to see the fite. he was glad to get it i tell 
 you, and he sed i was the best feller he knew, i 
 told him when he eame here agen we wood have 
 some more fun. mother gave him 25 cents and 
 gave me ten cents for being so good to him. me 
 and Pewt and Beany had some goozeberies down 
 to old Si Smiths, father told me one time i cood 
 have a football, so i asked him tonite and he sed 
 i dident desirve ennything, that i had caused him 
 a good deal of truble, ennyway i am going to have 
 2 bladders. 
 
 Sept. 16. Clowdy but no rane. Beany and 
 Ticky Moses got fiting at resess today, we was 
 playing 2 old cat and we was chewsing sides, and 
 Beany and Ticky was chewsing and the way they 
 did it was this. Beany he throwed the bat at 
 
 11 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 >> 
 
 Ticky and Ticky he cought it about half way 
 down, and then Beany he put his hand above 
 Tickys and Ticky he put his above Beanys, and so 
 on til when they came to the end of the bat the 
 last one whitch had his hand on has the first 
 choice and no fudging, only he has got to swing 
 the bat around nis Head 3 times and throw it 3 
 times as far as he can gump. well Beany he had 
 the last hand on the bat and he cood jest get 
 hold of it a little and when he swung it round his 
 head it sliped and hit Ticky on his head, and he 
 piched into Beany and jest as they was fiting 
 good the bell rang, that is jest the way. some- 
 thing always stops the good fites. i bet on Beany. 
 Sept. 17. Brite and fair, the stewdcats have 
 got back long ago — i forgot to wright that in. 
 they are some new fellers not enny biger then i 
 am. Honey Donovan licked one of them easy and 
 made him ball like a baby. Chitter Robinson and 
 a stewdcat named Hall had a fite on the Plains and 
 12 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 neether licked, they fit until they was tired out, 
 and Darlinton a big stewdcat came up and stoped 
 them, they aint much fun in going to school now. 
 all the girls go to school in the libary bilding 
 and they is nobody but fellers in the grammer 
 school, i tell you it is pretty loansom. we fellers 
 dont care mutch if they miss in there lessons. 
 
 Sept. 18. Brite and fair, after school today 
 me and Beany and Fatty and Nibby and Lees 
 Moses and Whacker went home by the libary 
 building., when the girls came out they dident 
 pay enny attension to us becaus the high school 
 fellers was there, perhaps they will want to slide 
 on our sleds next winter and then i gess they will 
 find out something. 
 
 Sept. 19, 186- Brite and fair, went to church 
 in the morning and to Sunday school in the after- 
 noon, i have got a new pair of britches, old 
 Missis Stickny made them out of a old pair of 
 fathers, they wasent very old becaus they was 
 
 13 
 
" S e q n i I 
 
 ** 
 
 made out of the same blew coat that father had 
 when he was going to make his speach when old 
 Dirgin put me out of the town hall, father sed 
 he wood never ware them britches ennymore. 
 they was too tite, and his new boots was too tite 
 two, and so he giv them to me, only i cood have 
 the britches made smaler and i coodent have the 
 boots made smaler so i will have to wate a long 
 time before i cood ware the boots, well after 
 Sunday school me and Bug and Cawcaw and Pile 
 Wood went down to the dam. they are having 
 the dam fixed and the water is auful low, rite 
 below the dam they was some big pikerel in a 
 place where they coodent get out. well we took 
 off our shues and stockings and begun to wade in 
 after them and they wood dart round lively and 
 we got pretty well spatered, and than i fell rite 
 down and got wet soping. after that i went rite 
 in and we got 1 2 big pikerel and we had 3 apeace. 
 so i went home and i was afraid i wood get a lick- 
 14 
 
f S e q n i 1 M 
 
 ing and i did two, for when i came in father said 
 where in thunder have you been and i told him 
 and said here are some good pikerel for supper 
 and he said i will atend to you sir, and he took 
 me up stairs and gave me a whaling, gosh you bet 
 it hurt, well then he told me to go to bed and 
 said i coodent have my supper, and when i took 
 of my close my legs were all blew and i called 
 mother up to see how i was black and blew and 
 when she came up she said for mersy sakes, the 
 coler has all come out of your pants and you are 
 all chekered blew, so i tride to wash it of, and it 
 woodent come of. so i went to bed and i felt 
 auful hungry and i cood hear them at supper and 
 i could smell beefstake and i almost wished father 
 was ded, and when it was almost dark mother 
 come up with a tray and she had fride one of the 
 pikerel and had some tost and a baked potato and 
 i set up and had a buly supper, mother wasent 
 mad a bit with me but she told me i did rong but 
 
 15 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 she gessed i got my pay for it and i gess i did. 
 mother is jest as good as she can be. 
 
 Sept. 20. Brite and fair, the coler hasent 
 gone of my legs yet. tonite father took me down 
 to Erl and Cuts where he got the coat that my 
 britches was made out of and told Erl about it 
 and made me show my legs, and Erl said i gess 
 George, the cloth hadent been spunged, and 
 father said i dont know about the cloth, but he 
 was spunged most damly when he got them, and 
 mister Erl laffed and gave father a pair of new 
 britches, and we went home, father felt pretty 
 good about it, it dont seam rite, i got a lickin and 
 got my legs all blew and it wont come of, and 
 father got a new pair of britches for nothing, 
 enny way one of these pickerel waid a pound. 
 
 Sept. 21. tonite i went over to Beanys. Mister 
 
 Watson Beanys father was leening his head on 
 
 his hand and i stumped Beany to pull his elbo 
 
 out. and we nearly dide laffing to think about it 
 
 16 
 
" S e q u i 1 •• 
 
 and by and by Beany got up his spunk and pulled 
 his elbo out and his head came rite down on the 
 table and he jumped up and grabed Beany and 
 hit him some good bats and sent him to bed and 
 told me to go home and never come over there 
 ennymore. so i cant go with Beany ennymore. 
 the coler hasent gone out of my legs. 
 
 Sept. 22. Rany. the coler has begun to go of 
 my legs. 
 
 Sept. 23. Rany as time, we got some soft 
 sope of old man Currier today and the coler is 
 most gone. 
 
 Sept. 24. It is all gone now. 
 
 Sept. 25. Lubbin Smith and Geen Titcum got 
 fiting at resess today and the bell rung before 
 eether had licked, i bet on Lubbin. i went down 
 for some more pikerel today but the river is two 
 deep now. 
 
 Sept. 26. i went to church today, they issent 
 enny fun Sundays. 
 
 17 
 
" S e <| n i I " 
 
 Sept. 27 j 186- Brite and fair, today we was 
 playing football at school and Whacker got rooted 
 agenst Colbaths barn and hit his head whack and 
 fell down jest as if he was ded, and old Francis 
 came running out and grabed him up and put 
 water on his head and then he waked up and was 
 all rite but he had a headake. 
 
 Sept. 28. Rany as time, father has sold Nelly 
 to old Si Smith, she was lame in her hind leg 
 and when she stands in the stable she holds her 
 hind leg up in the air all the time, and when she 
 goes out she limps auful but after she goes a while 
 she aint lame, so last nite father hiched her up 
 and took me and we drove over to Wire Shaws in 
 Kensington and when we came back he took out 
 the whip and hit her under the belly with it 2 
 times and you aught to see her go. when we 
 came to old Si Smiths she was going like old 
 Billy Robinsons troter. then father turned round 
 and drove up to Sis and old Si and Shep Hodgden 
 18 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 and Gimmy Biddle and Charles Fifield was there 
 and father said this will make jest the horse you 
 want for your store and old Si said she aint biger 
 than a rat and father said i gess she is big enuf 
 to carry out all your lodes unless you put down 
 your price, and then they all laffed at Si, and 
 then Si said she was a puller and father said what 
 do you want Josiar one that you have to push, 
 and then they laffed agen and when father called 
 him Josiar i know Si had better look out for when 
 father calls me Henry i know i am in for a lik- 
 ing, then Si said she is lame in every leg and 
 father said you get in here and drive her and if 
 she goes a lame step i will give her to you, and 
 old Si said to Shep and Gimmy you get in and 
 drive her and they got in and drove off and father 
 said he wood take 50 dolars for her and old Si 
 said he wood give 35 dolars for her and they 
 talked and talked and then Shep and Gimmy 
 came back and said she went all rite and old Si 
 
 19 
 
" S e q m i 1 •' 
 
 said he wood give father 40 dolars and father said 
 she was worth 50 but as Si was a nabor he wood 
 like to acomodate him. well old Si was counting 
 out the money when he said he bet she was a 
 kicker father said she is kind as a kitten and 
 dont bite or kick dont she Harry and i said she 
 cant kick becaus she always holds up one leg in 
 the stall, and old Si said whats that and i told 
 him how she coodent kick becaus she held up 
 one leg, and then Gimmy and Shep and Charlie 
 Fifield and old Mister Page all laffed and hollered 
 and stamped round and slaped their legs and said 
 that is a good one, and old Si stoped counting his 
 money and swore aufully and father looked auful 
 mad for a minit and then he said she is wirth 
 every cent of 50 dolars and asked Si what he 
 wood give and Si said 1 5 dolars and they talked 
 and talked and after a while he give father 25 
 dolars. then we went home and father looked 
 prety mad. i dident know what i had done but 
 20 
 
" s 
 
 ** 
 
 when we got home he said Harry you go to bed, 
 so i went up about scart to deth but by and by i 
 crep to the stairs and lissened and he was telling 
 about it to mother and he said if he had sence 
 enuf not to ask me about it he cood had got 1 5 
 dolars more out of old Si and he was mad enuf to 
 lick me, and then he began to lafF and mother 
 laffed and said it served you jest rite George to 
 try and cheet a old man, and father said Nelly was 
 wirth 50 dolars and the last baril of flour that Si 
 sold him was older then Methooselas gread gran- 
 father and he wood have got square with Si if it 
 hadent been for that boy. well mother said you 
 cant whip him for telling the truth and father 
 said thunder no i aint going to lick him but i was 
 mad enuf to. so i felt prety good and crep back 
 to bed. 
 
 Sept. 29. Brite and fair. At school today Scotty 
 Briggam jumped over the fence today to get the 
 football and fell on his arm and broke it, and 
 
 21 
 
" S e <i n i 1 " 
 
 then he went home and came back before school 
 was out with some shingles tied on his arm. 
 Scotty has got some spunk, but i gess Tady Fin- 
 ton can lick him now. Old Francis said 2 axidents 
 in 2 days was too mutch and we mustent play 
 football enny more, so at recess we go behind 
 the school house and have fites. Gim Miller and 
 Ben Rundlet had a good fite, and tomorrow Plug 
 Atherton and Diddly Colket are going to have a 
 fite it is most as much fun to see fites as to play 
 football. 
 
 Sept. 30. Brite and fair, we cant have enny 
 more fites. at recess today Plug and Diddly had 
 the best fite i ever saw. they fit all recess and 
 none of us heard the bell and Plug had Diddly 
 down and we were all hollering, paist him Plug 
 and hit him Diddly when old Francis came round 
 the corner and grabed Plug and Diddly. i tell 
 you we all went into school lively and old Francis 
 made Plug and Diddly stand on the platform all 
 22 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 the rest of the day with their arms round each 
 others necks and we dident have enny recess in 
 the afternoon, it is pretty tuf. we cant play one 
 old cat becaus old Polly Smith makes a fuss 
 when the ball goes over her fence and we cant 
 play football becaus Scotty broke his arm and 
 Whack got stunted, and we cant fite becaus it is 
 rong to fite. we might jest as well be girls and 
 roll hoop. 
 
 Sept. 31, 186- father has got a new pair of 
 hip boots, rany. 
 
 Sept. 32. No i ment Oct 2. yesterday was 
 Oct 1, and i got it Sept. 31. went down to Henry 
 Youngs tonite and had my hair cut. he put some 
 auful nise smeling oil on and when i got home 
 they all took turns in smeling of my head. 
 
 Oct. 3. i went to Church. Pile Woods sister 
 played the organ she is going to play all time 
 now. 
 
 Oct. 4. brite and fair today and yesterday, it 
 
 23 
 
" 8 e q n i 1 " 
 
 was so hot today that me and Chick Chickering 
 went in swiming, the water was cold as time, and 
 we jest ducked our heads and come out lively. 
 
 Oct. 5. nothing today, brite and fair, they 
 hasent been enny fites at school for the longest 
 while. 
 
 Oct. 6. Keene and Cele has got some new 
 balmoral skirts, they feel prety big. 
 
 Oct. 7. Charles Talor was down to the house 
 tonite and kept us all laffing to hear him tell 
 stories about father and Gim Melcher. 
 
 Oct. 8. brite and fair, tomorrow me and Beany 
 are going to wirk for Mister Hirvey making ice 
 creem. he is going to give us some and some 
 creem cakes, i missed in school today. 
 
 Oct. 9. Brite and fair, i gess i shant forget 
 today very soon, this afternoon we went over to 
 Mister Hirveys and we wirked a long time ma- 
 king ice creem by turning the handles of the 
 buckets and choping up the ice. after we got 
 24 
 
" S e 4 u i 1 " 
 
 done he let us come into his saloon and we had 
 to big glasses of pink and yellow mixed and some 
 creemcakes. well after we had et it Beany said 
 less put some pepersass into the rest of the creem- 
 cakes. so we did and then we went out and 
 peeked through the window, bimeby a man came 
 in and set down and we saw Mister Hirvey bring 
 in some icecreem and some creemcakes. well we 
 kept peeking and the feller et one creemcake and 
 we heard him say to Mister Hirvey that they 
 were the best creem cakes he ever et and then he 
 took another and took a hog bite out of it and 
 then he jumped up and his eyes buged out and 
 he spit it out and begun to swear and drink water 
 and stamp round and Mister Hirvey said what is 
 the matter and the man spit some more and 
 swore and said they was helfire in the creemcake, 
 and Mister Hirvey looked into it and said some 
 pne has put pepersass into it and i bet i know 
 who did it. when i heard him say that i ran 
 
 25 
 
" S e q u i 1 ♦• 
 
 round the corner, but Beany waited too long and 
 Mister Hirvey saw him peeking in the window 
 and came out lively, well Beany he ran down 
 into Toles yard as tite as he could go and Mister 
 Hirvey came hipering after him with his white 
 apron on, i dident know he cood run so fast, 
 bimeby he came back holding Beany by the ear. 
 Beany he wood try to hold back until his ear 
 nearly puled of and then he wood come along, 
 well Mister Hirvey snaiked him rite into his 
 saloon and said, did you put that pepersass into 
 my creemcakes, and Beany he said he dident, and 
 Mister Hirvey said i dont want enny lying, and 
 said that Beany and the long leged Shute boy 
 were the last ones in the place and that one of us 
 did it. and Beany he said he dident and he saw 
 me with the pepersass bottel in my hand and 
 Mister Hirvey he said now you have got to eat 
 that creemcake or take a good licking and he 
 took his cane, and held Beany by the coller and 
 
 26 
 
** S e q u i I " 
 
 said 1 and Beany dident eat it, and then he said 
 2 and Beany dident eat it and then he said 3 and 
 he hit Beany a auful whack over the legs and 
 Beany hollered like time and held on to his legs, 
 and then Mister Hirvey he said 1 again and 
 Beany dident eat it and he said 2 and Beany 
 dident eat it and jest as he said 3 Beany he 
 grabed it and took a bite and tride to swaller it 
 and i thought i shood die to see him, he spit and 
 clawed at his mouth and he howled and jumped 
 up and down and then he ran over to Charles 
 Toles pump and rensed his mouth and drank out 
 of the horse troth and Mister Hirvey and the 
 man like to dide laffing. i waited till they went 
 in and then i went over to see Beany and when i 
 asked him how he liked the creemcake he said i 
 was a long leged puke, this was one of the times 
 that Beany got cought and i dident. 
 
 Oct. 10, 186- Sunday agen. brite and fair it 
 never ranes Sunday, father went to church today. 
 
 27 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 ** 
 
 he woodent have gone if Keene and Cele hadent 
 been going to sing a duet, i dident want to go 
 becaus i was afraid they wood brake down, but 
 father he said i had got to go and so i went, old 
 mister Blake who sets rite behind us droped his 
 hym book and had to bend way over to pick it 
 up when he set up he hit his bald head a feerful 
 bump agenst the book rack, i nearly laffed out 
 loud and had to hold on to my mouth. 
 
 Oct. 11. J. Albert Clark is teaching Keene 
 and Cele a new tune. Keene sings the treble and 
 Cele sings the alto, it is there is a bank where on 
 the wild time grows, at supper tonite i asked 
 what wild time was and aunt Sarah said it must 
 be what father and Gim Melcher used to have, 
 then we all laffed and father told aunt Sarah she 
 was geting so funny that she wood have to wear 
 a kerb bit and a martingail. ennyway it was a 
 good one on father. 
 
 Oct. 1 2. the wind blows feerful. father wants 
 28 
 
" S e q n i I " 
 
 me to lern to sing a tune with Keene and Cele. 
 i dident want to but he said i had got to, so we 
 tried it, and i sung it rong every time, i sung it 
 jest enuf rong to make you feel crepey in your 
 back, and father said if you cant sing better then 
 that you had better shet up. so i shet up. 
 
 Oct. 13. clowdy but no rane. Georgie has 
 lerned a new tune, it is i wood i were a fary 
 queen, we are going to have the minister to sup- 
 per and father is going to make Keene and Cele 
 and Georgie show of. i hate showing of. enny- 
 way i havent got to show of becaus father says i 
 cant sing, i can sing but he dont know it you bet. 
 
 Oct. 14. rany and windy, i have got a sore 
 throte. father dident want to have the minister 
 to supper, he said to mother, what in thunder 
 do you want a minister for, and mother said, we 
 must have him becaus he will think it very queer 
 if we dont, only you must be careful not to say 
 or do ennything queer, and father he said he wood 
 
 29 
 
** S e q n i 1 " 
 
 keep his eye peeled, but he told mother she must 
 look out for the children. 
 
 Oct. 1 5. still rany, my throte is beter. we are 
 going to have chicking for supper when the min- 
 ister comes, tonite father brought some new gob- 
 lets from boston, mother and aunt Sarah wirked 
 all day making pies and cake, then mother let me 
 lite a paper and hold the chickings over it to burn 
 of the little fethers and hairs i like it becaus it 
 smels like thanksgiving only i burnt my hand and 
 it smelt jest like the chicking but i dident like 
 that you bet. 
 
 Oct. 16, 186- today the hole town was full 
 of ministers, most of them had long tailed coats 
 and white necktis. Deekon Gooch came down to 
 the house with 2 of them, aunt Sarah was wa- 
 ting in her best dress and when she saw them 
 coming she said Murder Joanna they is 2 of 
 them, what shall we do, and mother said, mercy 
 sakes what will George say. well the bell rung 
 30 
 
" S e <i w i 1 " 
 
 and i went to the door and asked them in and 
 Deekon Gooch said they was Mister Fernald and 
 Mister Robinson, he said they was his brothers, 
 then Deekon he went off and i showed them to 
 the front room up stairs and one of them asked 
 me if i loved the lord and i said yes sir and he 
 said i was a good boy. and then he asked me if i 
 went to church and Sunday school and i said yes 
 sir and he asked me what was the tex last Sunday 
 and i said i dident know what tex ment and he 
 said what did he prech from and i said he 
 preeched from the pulpit in church and from the 
 platform in Sunday school, and Mister Fernald he 
 began to laff and Mister Robinson he said i wood- 
 ent laff if i was you brother, and then he said 
 what does the minister say after the first prair 
 and i said o yes i know now, he says we will now 
 take up the usual colection and then Mister 
 Fernald laffed again, then Mister Robinson he 
 asked me how many sisters i had and i said 4 
 
 31 
 
"Sean 
 
 99 
 
 and he asked if they went to church and i said 
 Keene and Cele sing in the quire and Georgie 
 goes but Annie and Frankie and the baby was 
 two little and then he asked if father went to 
 church and i said not very often, only when 
 Keene and Cele had to sing a duet, and then he 
 asked me what else he did Sundays and i said 
 sometimes he made viniger down celler and some- 
 times he went over to see John Adams hens or 
 down to Gim Melchers shop or up to Hirum Gil- 
 mores, and he said it is very deploorible is it not, 
 brother and Mister Fernald he laffed again and 
 said he gessed he better not ask me any more 
 questions, and perhaps my father woodent like to 
 have me tell all about him, and i said father was- 
 ent afrade, and he said he dident give much for 
 ministers ennyway and then Mister Fernald laffed 
 as hard as he cood and Mister Robinson looked 
 mad, then we went down stairs and they shook 
 hands with mother and aunt Sarah and Mister 
 32 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 Robinson he set down by aunt Sarah and asked 
 her about the church and prair meetings and why 
 she dident always go and lots of things like that 
 and Mister Fernald he got the baby in his lap 
 and he talked to mother about the children and 
 told us stories and he was jest buly. then bimeby 
 father he came home and he shook hands with 
 them and he said he was glad to see them whitch 
 was a auful lie. then mother said super was 
 ready and we all went in to super and father 
 kept talking and telling stories until mother said 
 George and looked at him, and he shet up and 
 turned red and then Mister Robinson began to 
 pray and all of us kept still but Georgie who be- 
 gan to gigle, and mother looked scowly at her 
 and she shet up two. then father looked at 
 mother and winked and i had to put my hand 
 over my mouth, mother she almost laffed to, 
 and Mister Robinson he kept on praying till 
 bimeby Frankie he said Mama i wish that man 
 
 33 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 wood stop and Mister Fernald he began to coff i 
 bet he wanted to laff. well ennyway Mister Rob- 
 inson he stoped. then father helped them to 
 chicking and bisket and gelly and cony and 
 everything and then he helped us and we all be- 
 gun to eat and bimeby Annie said we have got 
 some napkins tonite, and Frankie said we have 
 got some little plates to put the butter on, and i 
 saw them first, and Annie said we have got some 
 new goblets two, so there, and Frankie run his 
 tung out at Annie and she made up a face at him, 
 and then father told them to stop and they 
 stoped and mother and aunt Sarah turned red 
 and Mister Robinson he looked auful solium and 
 Mister Fernald looked funny and then he looked 
 at father an begun to laff and father laffed and 
 then we all laffed as hard as we cood, and Mister 
 Fernald he said, dont mind a bit Missis Shute, i 
 have got children of my own, i like Mister Fer- 
 nald. after super Frankie and Annie were sent 
 34 
 
" S e «i u i 1 " 
 
 to bed and we went into the parlor and father 
 kept us all laffing telling stories, and then Keene 
 and Cele sung now i lay me down to sleep, and 
 there is a bank on whitch the wild time grows, 
 and Cele sung flow gently sweet Afton and 
 Georgie sung i wood i were a fary queen, and 
 then Mister Robinson wanted us to sing a relig- 
 ous song and we sung shall we gather at the 
 river, then they asked me to sing and i said i 
 coodent and father said before he thought, that 
 boy is bedeviled to play a cornet, then Mister 
 Fernald he said let him play it, it wont hurt him, 
 then father begun to tell some more stories and 
 kept us laffin fit to die, and Mister Fernald he 
 said he hadent laffed so much for years, and he 
 said, to mother, Missis Shute i gess you have a 
 prety good natured husband, and she said yes, 
 and father he said he most never got mad and 
 jest then the bell rung, and Keene went to the 
 door and said that Mister Swane the poliseman 
 
 35 
 
Sean 
 
 *> 
 
 wanted to see father and father he went to the 
 door and in a minit we herd him swaring and 
 herd him say it is a dam lie Swane and you know 
 it and then Swane went away and father came in 
 and said that someone had ridden horseback over 
 the concreek sidewalk and they tride to lay it on 
 me. Then it was bedtime and Mister Robinson 
 he prayed some more and he prayed for those 
 who took the name of the lord in vane, and then 
 we went to bed. 
 
 Oct. 17. Brite and fair, the old ministers has 
 gone, i am glad of it. i liked Mister Fernald but 
 i hated old Robinson, i gess he wont get invited 
 here again, this morning at brekfast he prayed 
 again until the brekfast was most cold and he 
 prayed a good deal about takin the name of the 
 lord in vane and i cood see that mother looked 
 mad but she dident say ennything. bimeby he 
 begun to talk to mother about father having a 
 unfortunate temper, and said his langage was 
 36 
 
'* S e q u i 1 " 
 
 shocking, and Cele she up and said, i gess my 
 father is as good as you are and Keene stuck out 
 her tung and mother sent them away from the 
 table, and then old Robinson he said i am afrade 
 your children are not well brought up, and 
 mother looked rite at him a minit and then she 
 said, i shood feel very badly if my children shood 
 xcept hospitality from another person and critti- 
 sise that person to his face, at all events i cannot 
 submit to have my husband or my children critti- 
 sized, and Mister Robinson he dident say enny- 
 more you bet. after brekfast they went away, and 
 Mister Fernald he shook hands with us all and he 
 asked mother to let Cele and Keene come down 
 to shake hands and she did. after they had went 
 mother she gave us a peace of mince pie apeace 
 and we all hoorayed for mother, none of us went 
 to church today. 
 
 Oct. 18. brite and fair, tonite father borowed 
 Gim Loverings horse and wagun to go riding. 
 
 37 
 
*' S e q u i 1 ♦• 
 
 Gim said it aught to be greesed, so father asked 
 me to greese the wheals, and then he said i will 
 do it myself, and then i will be sure it will be 
 done rite, so he got the munky rench and the 
 lantern and some lard and went out to greese the 
 wheals, and when he had greesed them he come 
 in and washed his hands and then he went out 
 and told mother not to set up for him and he un- 
 hitched the horse and hollered gitap and when 
 the horse started one side of the wagun went 
 down whack and out came father, well he held 
 on to the ranes and stoped the horse and mother 
 said what is the matter, and father said that in- 
 fernal boy dident screw up the nut and the wheal 
 come of and nearly broke my neck, and as soon 
 as i tie this horse i will give him a good whaling 
 and aunt Sarah said George you greesed the 
 wheals yourself and father said by thunder so i 
 did. then i got the lantern and we looked for the 
 wheal and it was leaning up against the apple 
 38 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 tree and father said jest look at that, the wheal 
 ran up to the tree and stoped, and then we 
 hunted round for the nut and we coodent find it 
 and i got down on my nees and father held the 
 lantern, and Cele and Keene came out and 
 hunted and we coodent find it. bimeby father 
 said he could put on the wheal and hold it on till 
 he got back to Gims and he lifted up the ex and 
 i went to put on the wheal and there was the nut 
 all screwed on the ex. father had put on the nut 
 but had forgot to put on the wheal and had left 
 the ex resting on the jack, i gess he hadent bet- 
 ter say mutch about me. 
 
 Oct. 19. I have got a new box of paper 
 collers. 
 
 Oct. 20. brite and fair, this afternoon me and 
 Fatty Melcher wirked all the afternoon puting 
 leafs in old Putty Lowjys barn, old Putty said 
 he wood pay us but when we asked him for our 
 pay he said we cood have all the horse chesnuts 
 
 39 
 
« S e q n i 1 '» 
 
 we wanted, so we got a baskit and picked it full 
 and went back to Fattys and pluged horse ches- 
 nuts at old Puttys cat. 
 
 Oct. 21. brite and fair. Skinny Bruce and Ben 
 Rundlet got fiting to-day. old Bandbox Tomson 
 came in to lern us some music and he left his 
 fiddel in the entry and at resess Ben he put some 
 sope on his bow and when old Bandbox tried to 
 play on it he coodent make a squeak, then old 
 Francis asked every feller in school who done it, 
 and when Ben said he dident know who done it 
 old Francis he up and whaled time out of Ben. 
 i gess old Francis see Ben do it. ennyway after 
 school Skinny he hollered Ben how did you like 
 your licking, and Ben he hollered back Skinny 
 Bruce is a redheaded goose, and Skinny he got 
 mad and paisted Ben one in the eye and Ben he 
 give Skinny a sidewinder and then they fit from 
 first base to Colbaths barn where Whack got 
 stunted and old Polly Smith came out and said if 
 40 
 
" S e q n i 1 V 
 
 they dident stop fiting she wood go for the polise, 
 and so they stoped. i bet on Skinny. 
 
 Oct. 22, 186- brite and fair and most as 
 hot as summer, that was prety mean of old 
 Putty. 
 
 Oct. 23. Mary Watson, Beany's sister and 
 Mary Straton whose father chased me and Beany 
 when we broke the gaslite, can run faster then 
 enny of the fellers xcept Tomtit and Arthur 
 Francis. 
 
 Oct. 24. i have been sick agen. not very sick 
 but my legs aked ferful. mother says it is becaus 
 i am growin so fast, but i know why, me and 
 Boog Chadwick rassled all yesterday afternoon, 
 ferst i throwed Boog and then Boog throwed me, 
 and when we got through Boog was only 2 
 throws ahead, we dident get mad at all. enny- 
 way i dident have to go to church. 
 
 Oct. 25. tonite we had company to super. 
 Mister and Missis Merill. Frankie did a funny 
 
 41 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 thing, father asked mother for some chese and 
 mother she said they wasent enny, and Frankie 
 he said he knew where they was some and father 
 said all rite Frankie if you can get some i will give 
 you a cent, father he thinks Frankie is auful 
 smart, and so Frankie he climed out of his high 
 chair and ran out into the kitchen and bimeby he 
 came in with 3 little peaces of chese and father 
 he asked him where he got them and he brought 
 in the rat trap, you had just aught to have herd 
 them laff. 
 
 Oct. 26. Clowdy but no rane. some folks can 
 eat chese that is all wiggly. 
 
 Oct. 27. still clowdy. i cant. 
 
 Oct. 28. Beany has got the best little ax i 
 ever saw. his father got it for him to split his 
 kindlins. i wish i had one like it for i have to 
 split my kindlins with a old rusty ax that ways 
 about a tun. 
 
 Oct. 29. brite and fair, tonite i went over and 
 42 
 
6fc 
 
 S e q u i 1 " 
 
 helped Beany split kindlins with his new ax. it 
 was jest as easy as ennything. 
 
 Oct. 30. brite and fair, old Tom Fifield killed 
 his pig today and give Beany the bladder, and we 
 blew it up with a pipe stem and kicked it for a 
 football after school. Jack Melvin is going to 
 have Micky Kelleys fathers pigs bladder, only 
 he dont kill his pig till most winter, i am go- 
 ing to have Oliver Lanes, and his pig is the 
 bigest in town, i bet his will be as big as the 
 stewdcats big football, all the fellers wish they 
 cood get it. 
 
 Oct. 31. cold as time this morning, but i had 
 to go to church jest the same. 
 
 Nov. 1 . Beany got a licking today for hollering 
 after old Nancy Marble, she went into Beanys 
 house and told Beanys father, i hollered two but 
 father was in boston and she coodent tell him. 
 
 Nov. 2. brite and fair. Oliver Lane killed his 
 pig today, it was the bigest pig in town, i had 
 
 43 
 
*• S e q u i 1 " 
 
 been wating for the bladder ever sense last June 
 and i thought such a big pig aught to have a big 
 bladder, but it was jest the littlest bladder i ever 
 see. i suppose it was so fat inside they wasent 
 enny room for the bladder. Skinny Bruces pigs 
 fathers bladder, no i mean Skinny Bruces fathers 
 pigs bladder was most twice as big. 
 
 Nov. 3. Brite and fair, the water in the rane 
 baril was froze over last nite. today i blew up the 
 bladder and dride it in the kitchen, it made a 
 prety good football. Pewt dident give me his 
 fathers pigs bladder that he promised me when 
 i let him see the fite when Gim Erly licked Will 
 Simpkins. you jest wait Pewt and you will see. 
 
 Nov. 4. brite and fair. Georgie got sent to 
 bed today and had to stay in bed all the afternoon, 
 mother told her not to tuch a vase that was full 
 of sand to make it heavy, i wanted the sand for 
 my aquarian and so i poored it out. well bimeby 
 Georgie came in and went up to take the vase 
 44 
 
n i I " 
 
 and it was so lite that when she lifted hard it 
 came up so quick that she went rite over back- 
 ward and smashed the vase all to bits, mother 
 came running in and found that Georgie wasent 
 hurt, but she howled as loud as she cood so that 
 mother woodent lick her, and so she got sent to 
 bed. mother said it sirved her rite. 
 
 Nov. 5. Brite and fair, i have been sick today, 
 i gess i et two much spare rib. when i think of it 
 it makes me sick, so i have been thinking over 
 the poitry about the fellers, some of it is prety 
 good. 
 
 Ed Tole fell in a hole 
 
 and coodent get out to save his sole 
 i made that up. 
 
 Plupy Shute 
 
 is a dirty brute. 
 
 and never will fite 
 
 if they is a chance to scoot, 
 Pewt he made that up. 
 
 45 
 
"Sean 
 
 99 
 
 Old Tim Calahan 
 
 he was a hell of a man. 
 Fatty Melcher he made that up. 
 
 Frank Hanes aint got enny branes 
 
 and dont know enuf to go in when it ranes 
 Beany he made that up. 
 
 Nipper Brown tumbled down 
 
 and busted his head and cracked his crown, 
 i made that up too. 
 
 Granvil Miller the barber 
 
 went to shave his father 
 
 the razer sliped and cut his lip 
 
 becaus he forgot the lather. 
 Skinny Bruce he made that up. 
 
 i tell you they is some prety good poits among 
 the fellers, but any feller whitch gets poitry 
 made up about him gets mad. 
 
 Nov. 6. brite and fair. Ed Tole can spit fur- 
 ther than enny feller in school. 
 
 Nov. 7. Keene and Cele are sick in bed and 
 
 46 
 
" S e <| li i 1 « 
 
 coodent sing today in church, they have feerful 
 headakes. docter Perry came in to see them. 
 
 Nov. 8. brite and fair. Keene and Cele and 
 Georgie are all sick now and the docter says it is 
 scarlet fever, they are all up in the front 
 chamber and mother and aunt Sarah take care of 
 them. 
 
 Nov. 9- clowdy but no rane. Annie is sick 
 now and i cant go to school ennymore. i like 
 that, so i am making a hen koop. 
 
 Nov. 10. Rany today. Beany he hollered over 
 today to find out how Keene and Cele and 
 Georgie and Annie are. i have got a soar throte 
 but i aint going to tell ennyone about it. 
 
 Nov. 11. i had a headake all last nite. i bet 
 i am going to have the fever. Frankie has got it 
 now and mother is afrade the baby is coming 
 down, she asked me how i felt and i said buly. 
 
 Nov. 1 2. old Missis Smith is helping take care 
 of the house and gets the brekfasts and dinners 
 
 47 
 
•' S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 and suppers, today docter Perry he came down 
 stairs and i was setting in a chair and he said 
 what is the matter with you, and i said nothing 
 and he said let me look at your throte, and he 
 made me open my mouth and he looked down in 
 my gozzle and then he said you march upstairs 
 into the hospitle and tell your mother that you 
 are a new pacient and i went up and when mother 
 saw me come in she said well i have been expect- 
 ing you. then i went down to my room and got 
 my niteshert and i thaught i aught to write this 
 down becaus i might die. people do die of scar- 
 let fever, i wonder if ennyone wood read it if i 
 did die. ennyway father said once that a boy 
 whitch was born to be hung never wood die in 
 enny other way, so i gess i am all rite, ennyway i 
 aint going to wright ennymore till i get well. 
 
 Jan. 17. brite and fair, i dident die and every 
 one of us got well. Annie had it the wirst and i 
 
 48 
 
•« S e <i n i 1 " 
 
 had it the next wirst and Frankie and the baby 
 want hardly sick any. today is the first time i 
 have been out. Cele and Keene went out last 
 Wensday but i coodent becaus i hadent got done 
 peeling, after folks have the scarlet fever their 
 skin dries up and peels of and if you get cold in 
 the peeling you die every time, i had on my 
 Hoppy Gad boots for the first time today, father 
 brougt them up to show me when i was in bed. 
 i was prety sick and dident know nothing for 2 or 
 3 days, mother says i was talking about the fel- 
 lers i knew in Reading, we lived in Reading one 
 year and so i thought i was there i gess and she 
 says i talked of George and Wendal Evans and 
 Puggy Fergerson and Totty Procter and Emma 
 Wallis and Jonny Pike and Ed Harndin and 
 Nelly Minot. i had a fite with Ed Harndin and 
 licked him. when Willy died we came back to 
 Exeter, and she said i talked about Willy to, and 
 everything, we had some fun while we was sick. 
 
 49 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 Cele used to tell stories and we made flyboxes 
 and then when mother was out of the room we 
 wood turn sumersets, and bimeby when we got so 
 that we cood eat apples we used to have one 
 apeace every day and we had to scrape them 
 with a nife and eat the soft part, and when we 
 were geting beter we were auful cross, i gess 
 most every one wood be cross to lose thanksgiv- 
 ing and crismas two, and my berth day, and all 
 the skating and snowbaling. ennyway i havent 
 got to go to school this week. 
 
 Jan. 18, 186- buly snowbaling. i went out to- 
 day a long time, mother told me not to plug 
 snowballs, so i only throwed 2 or 3. i am hungry 
 all the time. 
 
 Jan. 19- brite and fair, one of my hens died 
 when i was sick and the rooster frose his comb, 
 it is prety tuf on me. 
 
 Jan. 20. i went sliding today on factory hill, 
 it was buly. they wasent hardly ennyone there. 
 50 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 Jan. 21. brite and fair. Whack and Boog have 
 got a duble runner, they made it out of there 
 sleds dart and arrow, it is the fastest duble run- 
 ner on the hill, i went with them, we beat 
 Pewts duble runner esy. Pewts is biger and Mis- 
 ter Purington Pewts father painted it buly but it 
 cant go as fast or as fur as Whack and Boogs. 
 Pewt was mad becaus we beat him. 
 
 Jan. 22. i went to church today. Keene and 
 Cele sung in the quire. Beany kept sticking his 
 head out from behind the organ and making up 
 faces at me to make me laif out loud till the min- 
 ister spoke to him and he felt prety cheep. 
 
 Jan. 23. snowed and raned today both, i had 
 my sled painted today, it is painted black with 
 a gold stripe and Exeter Boy in gold letters on it. 
 Mister Purington Pewts father painted it. i went 
 to school today, nobody got licked. 
 
 Jan. 24. clowdy. my sled is most dry enuf to 
 use. 
 
 51 
 
" S e q « 1 i " 
 
 Jan. 25. it misted last nite and frose and to- 
 day everything was covered with ice it was fun to 
 see people fall down, most everybody fell down, 
 i went sliding on spring street. 
 
 Jan. 26. cold as time, i went to school, we 
 are going over colburns in revew and so i can 
 keep up. 
 
 Jan. 27. I havent got enny thing to wright to- 
 day xcept that i went to school. John Adams 
 has got a new brama rooster. 
 
 Jan. 28. Brite and fair, i licked Ti Crummet 
 today, me and Whack and Fatty Melcher was 
 over on Factory Hill sliding and Ti Crummet and 
 Hirum Mingo and Bobberty Robinson and Dinky 
 Lord came over and i had my sled all new 
 painted, Pewts father painted it and Ti Crummet 
 run his old sled agenst it and nocked of sum of 
 the painty and i told him to keep his old sled of 
 mine and Ti he said he wood nock sum of the 
 paint of me if i said 2 words more and then he 
 52 
 
* S e q u i 1 M 
 
 swoar feerfully. i dident say nothing becaus i 
 dident want to fite him, and Hirum Mingo said 
 Plupy says he can lick you Ti and Ti said i can 
 nock hel out of you old spindel legs and i said i 
 dident say so and Ti he swoar sum more so it sort 
 of scart me_, well then i was going and Hirum he 
 pushed Ti rite into me and he kicked me in the 
 leg and got hold of my hair and i got the under 
 hold and got him down jest as esy as ennything 
 and then i set on him and lammed him til he 
 holered enuf and then i let him up and he 
 went home balling, i bet he beter not fite me 
 agen. 
 
 Jan. 29- Brite and fair, it aint the feller 
 whitch can swear the feerfullest whitch is the 
 best fiter. i went to church and Sunday school 
 today. 
 
 Jan. 30. Brite and fair. Johnny Kelly can lick 
 enny feller on Court or South Street and he can 
 swear auful two. i gess most of the fellers is 
 
 53 
 
"8 e a 11 i 1 " 
 
 scart of him becaus he can swear so. i aint scart 
 of him. 
 
 Jan. 31. Rany. not mutch but sum. we was 
 playing snap the whip today and Johnny Kelly 
 was on the end and got snaped rite into a pudel 
 of water and he said i dident hold on and he 
 wood give me a slap in the mug and i said he 
 want man enuf and jest then the bell rang and we 
 had to go in. tomorow he had beter look out i 
 am going to give him one in the eye and then 
 grab for the under hold and get him down and 
 lam him good, i bet he cant fite enny beter 
 then Ti Crummet did, and when i have licked 
 him all the fellers will be afrade of me. i bet he 
 will wish he had never fit with me. 
 
 Feb. 1. Brite and Fair, i have got a black eye. 
 this morning i went to school erly and when i got 
 there Johnny Kelly was there and he said now 
 old Plupy longlegs i will fix you and i said pile 
 rite in and we will see and he began to swear 
 54 
 
" S e a u i 1 " 
 
 wirse then Ti did, and i said if you want a good 
 paist in the gob they is plenty of them rite here 
 if you are man enuf to sale in, and when i said 
 that he come at me so quick that i dident have 
 time to get ready and he hit me in the eye and in 
 the mouth 2 times and got the underhold before 
 i cood and got me down and lammed me till i 
 hollered enuf. then all the fellers holered Plupy 
 got licked Plupy has got a black eye. it was 
 prety mean ennyway. when i got home to dinner 
 mother asked me how i got my eye sore and i said 
 i got it boxing with Johnny Kelly and she said 
 was you fiteing and i said we box every day in 
 school sometimes Beany and Whack and some- 
 times me and Pewt but today me and Johnny 
 Kelly boxed and he hits to hard and she said she 
 shood think so, and said i had beter box with 
 sum other boy and i gess so two. ennyway i did- 
 ent lie to her for that wasent lying. 
 
 55 
 
" 8 e q u i 1 *» 
 
 Feb. 2. Brite and fair, i gave Johnny Kelly 
 the core of my apple today. Gosh sum fellers can 
 fite auful and swear auful two. 
 
 Feb. 3. Brite and fair. Beany has got a new 
 blew jacket, he felt prety big about it until Pewt 
 took him in the back with a roten apple. Beany 
 staid in all resess a scraping the apple off of his 
 coat, this afternoon he wore his old jacket, but he 
 is going to pay Pewt for that sum way. 
 
 Feb. 4. it snowed hard all day all the fellers 
 are whacking cats head on each others back, you 
 take some chork and chork the inside of your 
 hand and your ferst and last finger and then you 
 wet your fingers and make eyes and nose and 
 mouth in your chorky hand and then you wate til 
 a feller comes along and then you lam him one 
 on the back and it makes the funniest cats head 
 on his back you ever see with eyes and nose and 
 mouth and 2 long ears whitch your fingers made, 
 i got 5 on my back today and i got 1 on Beany 
 
 56 
 
" S e « u i 1 " 
 
 and 2 on Pewt and 1 on Pop Clark and 1 on 
 Nipper Brown. 
 
 Feb. 5. it snowed this morning and we dident 
 go to church i dug some paths and read Billy 
 Bowlegs in the afternoon, after super it snowed 
 again and is snowing now. i bet they will be 
 some deep drifts tomorow. 
 
 Feb. 6. brite and fair, it has cleared off. 
 everything was jest as white and they wasent 
 hardly a track in the snow, i had to dig sum 
 paths, and i got up erly and dug a path down the 
 frunt steps and out to the road so father cood get 
 into the hack. Jo Parmer said it was prety tuf 
 slaying, my Hoppy Gad boots have been greesed 
 and they dont leak a bit. me and Pewt and 
 Beany had sum fun diving, we tide scarfs round 
 our heds and necks and div from our steps into a 
 snow drift, and we cood go in way out of sight. 
 we tide our britches down over our boots, it was 
 more fun than diving in the river, after we div 
 
 57 
 
** S e q u i 1 " 
 
 one drift all down we tride another, and bimeby 
 Beany he said come on fellers here is a buly drift 
 down by the shed and we went down and Beany 
 said i chuse first dive and he clim up on the shed 
 and said 1 to make ready, 2 to prepare, 3 to be 
 going and 4 to be there, and then he div rite 
 into the swill bucket, it was under the snow and 
 Beany coodent see it, and when he came up he 
 was all swill and he was mad and said i knew it 
 all the time, and he went home and aint going to 
 ever speak to me enny more, i coodent see the 
 old bucket enny more than he cood. it is jest 
 like Beany to get mad at every little thing, i bet 
 he wood lafF if i div in the swill bucket. 
 
 Feb. 7. Brite and fair. Beany woodent speek 
 to me today, all rite Beany you jest wait and 
 see. 
 
 Feb. 8. Brite and fair, it was buly snowball- 
 ing, we was pluging stewdcats today and Pacer 
 Gooch came along, so we got behind trees and 
 58 
 
" S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 Pewt peeked jest in time to get one rite in the 
 eye. he had aught to know beter than peek out 
 when Pacer is pluging snowballs. 
 
 Feb. 9- me and Fatty Melcher are making 
 some arrow rifles down to his shop, we are going 
 hunting for rabbits saterday. brite and fair. 
 
 Feb. 10. brite and fair, tonite father brougt 
 a magasine home tonite. it is the young folks, 
 we all wanted it so we took turns, ferst Cele read 
 a story and then i read a story and then Keene, 
 we all read it out loud. Cele read amung the 
 glass blowers. Keene read the story of a bad boy. 
 and i read around the evening lamp, they was 
 all buly stories. 
 
 Feb. 11, 186- this afternoon me and Fatty 
 Melcher and Potter Goram went hunting, we 
 had our arrow rifles and Fatty had a ax and Pot- 
 ter a hachet in his belt and i had a nife. we had 
 a buly time, we went up to the eddy and then 
 went across the river on Gilmans side, we saw 2 
 
 59 
 
" S e <i 11 i 1 »» 
 
 patriges and 1 rabbit and some blewgays. we 
 dident hit them but we came prety near them, 
 then we bilt a fire and et our donnuts and then 
 we tracked a rabbit into a pile of bushes, when 
 we turned over a log we scart out a field mouse 
 and killed it. tonite Potter came down to the 
 house and we read young yagers. 
 
 Feb. 12. it raned hard all day. Keene and 
 Cele had to go to church and so i had to go two. 
 they wasent many there, it ranes now. 
 
 Feb. 13. it raned hard all nite. i cood hear it 
 agenst the window and hear the wind blow, it is 
 comfertible to be in bed and hear the rane. only 
 i forgot my kindlings and i had to get up before 
 six oh clock this morning. 
 
 Feb. 14. Beany nearly got killed today, he 
 was spliting wood with his new ax and he was 
 standing rite under a closeline. Beany feels prety 
 big about his new ax and he had got so that he 
 can grunt jest like men who chop wood all the 
 
 60 
 
" S e q u i I " 
 
 time, so Beany he swung the ax over his head 
 and it hit the closeline and bounced rite up in 
 the air and came rite down on Beanys head and 
 he fell down whack and laid there till his father 
 came out and lugged him into the house, they 
 thought he was ded but he wasent. I went over 
 today to see him, he was setting in a rocking chair 
 by the stove with his head rapped up in a towel, 
 i sent Beany a valentine today, he dident send 
 me one but i gess it was because he was sick. 
 
 Feb. 15. brite and fair. Beany is better today, 
 i went over and split his kindlings for him. 
 
 Feb. 16. brite and fair and buly snowballing. 
 Gimmy Watson, Beanys brother said if Beanys 
 head hadent been jest like the choping block it 
 wood have killed him. Gimmy is mad becaus 
 Beany calls him Garni. He can lick Beany alone 
 and can lick me alone but me and Beany together 
 can lick him. 
 
 Feb. 17. they was a fire down on franklin 
 
 61 
 
" S e q u i 1 •• 
 
 street today and Bob Carter got all squirted over 
 and his close frose to the ladder he was on. 
 
 Feb. 18, 186- it snowed today, and then it 
 raned. 
 
 Feb. 19- we have vacation in about 2 weeks. 
 
 Feb. 20. i shall be glad when spring comes, i 
 wet my feet most every day. 
 
 Feb. 21. we are going to have a school xibi- 
 sion at the end of this tirm and old Francis says 
 he is going to give prises to the best scholars. 
 Nipper and Pricilla and all the other good boys 
 are studying hard so as to get the prises, i 
 woodent take one of their prises if they wood 
 give me one. i woodent give 2 cents for their old 
 prises. 
 
 Feb. 22. today is Washington's berthday and 
 we can ring the town bell at 1 oh clock and at 5 
 for a hour, i went down both times and Ed Der- 
 bon let us take turns in ringing the bell, only 2 
 can ring at a time, when me and Fatty Melcher 
 62 
 
" S e o u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 was ringing the bell went over and it pulled us 
 way up to the ceding, most of the fellers staid 
 out in frunt of the church and pluged snowballs, 
 bimeby some stewdcats came along and we pluged 
 and hit a stewdcat named Lee rite in the back of 
 his head and he said we have stood enuf from 
 these townies and he and Stone and Clifford and 
 Winsor, who was our Sunday school teacher until 
 he saw the rooster fite_, and Belmont came over 
 the fence and charged us and we pluged as hard 
 as we cood and they pluged two and we ran be- 
 hind the church and they follered us and jest 
 lammed us and washed Beany s face and rolled 
 Pewt in the wet snow, and jest then Boog and 
 Whack and Puz and Zee Smith came piling in and 
 paisted time out of them and then the stewdcats 
 charged them and throwed Whack in a drift and 
 Zee got one in the back that made him lay down 
 and grunt before he cood get his breth, and then 
 all the stewdcats from Toles house piled out and 
 
 63 
 
" S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 piched in and they was giving us time when 
 Bozzaris Wadly see the fite and jumped of a load 
 of wood and Pacer and Stuby Gooch and Scotty 
 Briggam and Kibo Marston and Skinny Bruce and 
 Frank Elliott herd us hollering give it to the 
 stewdcats and came running over and then we 
 had jest a buly fite and i tell you the snow balls 
 jest flew and Fatty Gilman got one rite in the 
 eye and Pheby Talor got one rite in the mouth 
 jest as he was hollering stewdcat and it filled his 
 mouth with snow and old Woodbrige Odlin was 
 coming out of the bank and he got one in the leg 
 and one in his old plug hat and it nocked it of 
 and he went over to the hotel and i gess he told 
 old Brown becaus he and Swane and Potsy Dirgin 
 the poliseman came over and made us stop, it 
 was the best snow ball fite i ever saw. we are 
 going to lay for the stewdcats next saterday at 
 the libary. old Bozzaris Wadly was the best fiter 
 we had and nobody knowed he cood fite. when 
 64 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 the stewdcats wood charge us he wood not run a 
 bit but wood jest stand and plug and once when 
 Clifford tride to put him over he coodent do it. it 
 was a buly fite. 
 
 Feb. 23. Brite and fair. Gosh what do you 
 think i am going to get a prise in school, last 
 nite i had to go down to old Tom Connors store 
 to get some carosene and old Francis was going 
 down town with Perry Molton and they was talk- 
 ing about who was the best fellers in school and 
 who they was going to give the prises, i lissened 
 and old Francis said Potter and Nipper and Pri- 
 cilla was going to have prises, only he dident call 
 them Potter and Nipper and Pricilla, but Arthur 
 and Jonny and Charlie, then he said they is one 
 boy who is as smart as enny of them only he dont 
 study much and i had to shake him up laitly and 
 he is doing better now, then Perry he said who is 
 it, and old Francis said i gess i wont tell you his 
 name for he may disapoint me, but he lives on 
 
 65 
 
" S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 Court Street, i tell you it made me feel all trem- 
 ly. it coodent be Pewt or Beany becaus they 
 miss there lesons most every day and they aint 
 enny other fellers living on Court Street so it 
 must be me, becaus old Francis shook me and 
 Medo Thirsten up day before yesterday and Medo 
 lives on South Street. Gosh wont father be sir- 
 prized i nearly got a prise once when Fliperty 
 Flannygan marked my words all rite and i wood 
 have got it if it hadent been for Gimmy Fitsger- 
 ald. but this time i am going to get it. i bet the 
 folks will think i am quite a feller. 
 
 Feb. 24. Brite and fair, i dident miss in 
 school today, tonite i staid in and studied. Pewt 
 and Beany come round and were mad becaus i 
 woodent come out. 
 
 Feb. 25. Rany. i got 9 xamples rite today out 
 of 1 0_, but i missed in speling. it aint 6ften i miss 
 in speling. 
 
 66 
 
" S e q 11 i I " 
 
 Feb. 26. i took a book today to church and 
 studied. 
 
 Feb. 27. Rany again, i dident miss in enny- 
 thing today, i told mother today that i was going 
 to get a prise if i dident disapoint him. so she 
 told father tonite and he said he dident beleive it. 
 he said he had nearly a buchel of prises he got in 
 school and he give them to the fellers to ware in 
 a torchlite percession and they kept them, he 
 said he give all his prise books to the Sunday 
 school, he said when he put on all his meddles 
 and walked out they gingled jest like slaybells 
 and glitered so they scart horses, aunt Sarah 
 laffed and said the only prises he wore were black 
 and blew ruler marks that old mister Ellis give 
 him and he got enuf of them to, and she said tell 
 Harry what you left the Academy for, and he 
 said the teachers were down on him becaus he 
 lerned faster than they cood teech, and aunt 
 Sarah said Doctor Sole wood tell a diferent story, 
 
 67 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 and father said that Doctor Sole was a wirthy 
 man but he dident forgive ennyone which was 
 smarter than he was. then father said you talk 
 very strangly Sarah for one of your years and i 
 shall ask the Coart to apoint me as gardeen over 
 you as a person of unsound mind, then father 
 said he had never told ennyone why he left the 
 Academy so suddin, but it was becaus he broak 
 his jaw in 3 places talking Greke to Doctor Sole, 
 well he kept us laffing all the evening and when 
 i went to bed he give me 10 cents so i gess he 
 feels prety good about my prise. 
 
 Feb. 28. clowdy but no rane. i only missed in 
 Geogerfy today. Aunt Sarah is going to exibision 
 day to see me get my prise. Keene and Cele are 
 going two. i dont dass to tell Beany, he come 
 over tonite to get me to come out and see him set 
 his dog onto Mister Heads cat and was mad when 
 i told him i had got to study. Beany he says i will 
 get so i cant fite or have enny fun i am geting so 
 68 
 
■* S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 good. Beany will get a good punch if he says 
 much. 
 
 Mar. 1, 186— brite and fair, father is going 
 to the school exibision. 
 
 Mar. 2. Brite and fair, tonite father lerned 
 me a speach to say when old Francis gives me the 
 prise, i dont want to say it but he says i have got 
 to. this is my speach. Mister Francis i thank you 
 very kindly for this beautiful present, whitch i 
 value for the honor whitch has been confered on 
 me, and i trust that i shall so conduck myself that 
 you may never regret it. 
 
 Mar. 3. Brite and fair, tomorow is exibision 
 day. today we rehersed. Pricilla sung pulling 
 hard agenst the streem and played the organ. 
 Potter read a composition and Nipper xplaned the 
 sum about the hundred geese the one i never 
 cood do. Good morow farmer with your hundred 
 geese sir i have not a hundred but if i had as 
 many more and half as many more and 2 J geese i 
 
 69 
 
" S e q u i 1 •» 
 
 shood have a hundred, how many geese had he. 
 well Nipper can do that sum and so he has got to 
 show of. i havent got to do ennything xcept 
 to say my speach when old Francis gives me 
 my prise, whitch is prety good for me. 
 
 Mar. 4. Brite and fair, i am not fealing very 
 well tonite. father dident go to boston this morn- 
 ing but staid to home, this morning in school we 
 rehersed for xibision. Pricilla sung and plaid and 
 Nipper rote down the geese sum on the black- 
 board and rote his name under it jest as good as 
 he cood. i wanted to rite Nipper under it but 
 old Francis wood paist time out of me if he found 
 out who rote it. you aught to hear Pricil play and 
 sing, he sings do your best for one another mak- 
 ing life a plesent dream, help a poor and weried 
 brother puling hard agenst the streem, and the 
 old organ goes boom ya, boom ya, boom ya ya ya, 
 that is a prety song for a feller to sing whitch 
 never will give the fellers the core of his apple 
 70 
 
" S e 4 n i 1 " 
 
 but always eats it hisself. well this afternoon i 
 put on my best close and my plad neckti and a 
 new paper coller and went to school erly. prety 
 soon the people begun to come in. they was old 
 Perry Molton and old Nat Shute and Gewett 
 Swazie the committy, and old Bil Morrill with 
 his hair curled under behind and Chick Chicker- 
 ings father and mother and docter Goranr, Nip- 
 pers father and mother and Pricillas father and 
 mother and lots of people and i thought father 
 wasent coming but bimeby he come in with his 
 new britches that he made Erl and Cutts give him 
 and his boots blacked and aunt Sarah and Keene 
 and Cele. Aunt Sarah had got her best earings 
 and her dolman with beeds and Keene and Cele 
 had on their bronze boots and there plad dresses 
 and they got a seet on the platform. Keene and 
 Cele felt prety big becaus they was in the seminary 
 and Aunt Sarah felt prety big becaus she had on 
 her earings and her dolman and father felt prety 
 
 71 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 big becaus i was going to get a prise, well first 
 old Francis said a prayer and everyone bowed 
 there heads and father bowed his two but i saw 
 him peek out under his hand, well then we 
 all sung and Mary Emery plaid the organ, then 
 our class resited and Nipper xplained his sum 
 about the geese and then Potter spoke a peace 
 and then Pricilla plaid and sung his peace, 
 then there was a dialog and then we sung sum 
 more, then old Francis opened his desk and took 
 out a little riting desk and said it had been prety 
 hard to tell whitch was the best scolar becaus 
 they was 3 boys who were so near together, so 
 he would give the riting desk to Arthur Go- 
 ram and the glass inkstand to Johnny Brown and 
 the stamp colecters book to Charly Hobbs. so 
 when he give them Potter and Nipper and Pricilla 
 stood up and bowd and said thank you. if they 
 had been so smart they aught to have a speach 
 ready, ennyway i had my speach all ready. 
 72 
 
" S e q u i I " 
 
 then old Francis said there was one boy who 
 had grate talents and was a very brite boy but 
 owing to his fondness for play had not done as well 
 as he shood. but he had showed such talent that 
 he aught to be menshioned espesially as he had 
 been studying much better laitly. when old 
 Francis said that aunt Sarah and Keene and Cele 
 set up strate and father tride to look as if he 
 dident know who he meant and i said my speach 
 over soft, to be sure i had it rite, then old 
 Francis said i have selected as a present for 
 this boy a book, and the name of this boy is, and 
 then he stoped a moment and i cood almost hear 
 my heart thumping, and then he said Johnny 
 Chickering. Gosh i had forgotten all about Chick 
 Chickering living on Coart Street, when he said 
 that aunt Sarah and Keene and Cele sat rite back 
 in there chairs and father turned auful red and 
 looked at me as if he wanted to nock my head rite 
 of and then he droped his hat on the floor and it 
 
 73 
 
" S e a u 
 
 ** 
 
 fell of the platform and roled way out under 
 Medo Thirstons seet and then he blew his nose 
 with a auful toot, then old Francis give Chick 
 the book and then he read the names of the 1 
 next best scolars and my name wasent there 
 eether. and then father looked mad enuf to bust, 
 and Aunt Sarah and Keene and Cele looked 
 prety sick, then we all sung happy school Ah 
 from the never shall our hearts long time be turn- 
 ing, and then school was dismissed, docter Go- 
 ram and Nippers father and mother and Pricillas 
 father and mother and Chicks father and mother 
 and lots of the people staid to shake hands with 
 old Francis, but father marched rite out and Aunt 
 Sarah and the girls two. well when i got home 
 you aught to have heard father, he said i was the 
 laziest and most wirthless boy there ever was, and 
 i was a disgrace to him and he sent me to bed 
 lively, i dident want the old book ennyway. 
 Mar. 5. Church today, i dont care. 
 74 
 
" S e q u i I " 
 
 Mar. 6. Brite and fair. Chick feals prety big 
 about his old book. Ed Tole has got a new game 
 rooster, we are going to throw him over in John 
 Adams yard the first time John lets his bolton 
 gray out. i rode on the hack today all the morn- 
 ing, it is more fan then geting good marks 
 in school, ennyway it is vacation and i am going 
 to raise time, i dont care for a old prise ennyway. 
 
 Mar. 7- Brite and fair, i broak a window 
 today on purpose, i dont care. 
 
 Mar. 8. Brite and fair, got sent to bed tonite 
 for swearing, all i said was gol darn it. father 
 needent feel so big. i have herd him say wirse 
 things than that, i dont care. 
 
 Mar. 9- clowdy but no rane. i dont care if i 
 dident get no prise. Chick needent feel so big. i 
 woodent take his old book ennyway. 
 
 Mar. 10. brite and fair, i got fiting with 
 Beany today in his yard, he chased me over to 
 my yard and i turned round suddin and stuck out 
 
 75 
 
" S e q u i I 
 
 99 
 
 my arm and my fist hit Beany rite in the eye. 
 you had aught to herd him howl, then mother 
 called me in and sent me to bed. it is prety tuf 
 when a feller cant hit another feller in the eye 
 whitch is chasing him. well ennyway i stamped 
 upstairs to bed and when father came home i 
 knew i shood get a licking, so when father came 
 home i lissened and herd them eating super, and 
 i herd father say where is that boy and mother 
 said i sent him to bed for striking Elly Watson. 
 Elly is Beany you know, and father said whitch 
 licked, and mother said Elly was crying very 
 loud and holding on to his eye, and so i sent 
 Harry to bed and father said if he dident do 
 ennything wirse than licking that Watson boy 
 i wont complane and if he will get up spunk enuf 
 to lick that boy of Brad Puringtons, he ment 
 Pewt, i will give him a treet. then mother said i 
 dont know what is the matter with Harry this 
 vacation, he is cross and impident, and then 
 
 76 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 Keene said i slaped her face yesterday and Cele 
 told Keene it was her fait and she hadent aught 
 to have plaged me, and Keene said she dident 
 and Cele said she did and father said you girls 
 shet up when your mother is talking, then some- 
 one shet the door and i dident hear enny more, 
 after super Cele come up in my room with a tray 
 with my super and i set up in bed and et my 
 super and Keene looked into the room and made 
 up a face, after super i heard father talking again 
 and he said i needed a good licking and mother 
 said something was the matter with me and she 
 never knew me to keep cross for a hole week, 
 and father said he wood take it out of me in 2 
 minits and mother said no she wood talk to me. 
 So bimeby mother come up and i made beleeve i 
 was asleep and mother set down by the bed and 
 said are you asleep Harry, and i said yes before i 
 thought, and then she sorter laffed and began to 
 talk to me and told me how sory it made her feel 
 
 77 
 
u i 1 
 
 5? 
 
 to see me so cross and doing bad things and she 
 wanted me to be better and not wurry her for 
 she dident feel very well and gosh before i knew 
 it i was balling rite out. well i balled good and 
 she rubed my head and got me a drink of water 
 and i said i wood do beter. then she kissed me 
 and went down and after a while i went to sleep, 
 gosh i maid up my mind if father licked me that 
 i woodent ball and i wood do something auful the 
 next day, i wont say what it was but it was 
 something auful. i have been a prety mean feller. 
 Mar. 11, 186- when i got up this morning i 
 felt buly, and i got a pail of water and brogt in 
 wood enuf to fill the woodbox way over the top. 
 it is warm and the snow is all gone xcept in the 
 corners where the drifts were, i saw a robin 
 today and i wished on it but i cant tell what i 
 wished becaus if i did it woodent come true, it is 
 something i have been wanting auful for a long 
 time, but i havent had money enuf to buy it. 
 
" S e q u 
 
 99 
 
 Mar. 12. rany. i went to church, the minister 
 said it was esy to be good if you tride. i gess 
 ministers dont know much ennyway. 
 
 Mar. 1 3. me and Beany is going to keep store 
 in my shed, today we made the counter of 2 
 barils and a board and we made a lot of flyboxes 
 and Jacobs laders and tonite we made a lot of 
 sweet firn cigars, and hayseed and mulen leaf and 
 cornsilk. this afternoon we went out picking up 
 bones in a baskit. most every yard had a lot of 
 bones in it xcept where the fellers had been, we 
 got most a buchel. we get half a cent a pound for 
 them down to old Gechels store they make nife 
 handels of them and perl buttons. 
 
 Mar. 14. Beany got mad today and says he 
 wont keep store with me. we got our flyboxes all 
 pined up and our boxes of cigars all ready and 
 mother said she wood give me some molases for 
 sweatened water, so we was all ready when 
 Beany got mad about the sine, he wanted it to 
 
 79 
 
" S e « 11 i I 
 
 ** 
 
 be Watson and Shute becaus he is older then me, 
 but it was my shed and my sweatened water and 
 my board and my barils and so i said my name 
 shood come ferst and he got mad and took half of 
 the things and went home, i dident let him have 
 a bit of the sweatened water. Lucy Watson was 
 mad two and woodent speek to Keene and Cele. 
 
 Mar. 15, 186- i opened my store today and 
 nailed up my sine fancy goods and sweatened 
 water H. Shute. Potter and Whack and Fatty 
 and Boog and Puzzy and all the fellers come 
 round and i sold lots of stuff, i charge 10 nails 
 for a sweet firn cigar, 5 nails for a rattan or grape 
 vine cigar and 3 nails for hayseed cornsilk and 
 mullen leaf. 3 nails for white Jacobs ladders and 
 5 for gilt, 10 nails for flyboxes made of writing 
 book paper, and 15 and 20 nails for gilt and sil- 
 ver and red paper. 1 5 nails for snappers that will 
 snap good, and 15 nails for a glass of sweatened 
 water, i had a big trade and i cood see Beany 
 80 
 
" S e a u i I 
 
 99 
 
 out in frunt of his house looking over, bimeby 
 he came over and i said hullo Beany come and 
 have a drink and a cigar, so Beany he took a 
 glass and drunk it and lit a cigar., a sweet firn one 
 and said how is trade, and i said they is quite a 
 little stiring, and he said have you got mutch 
 stock and i said most sold out but they is plenty 
 more where that come from and Beany he said 
 dont you want to by my stuff and i said no i gess 
 not. bimeby Beany he said less make up Plupy 
 and i said i aint mad and Beany he said well let 
 the old sine rip and so he went over and got his 
 stuff and pinned it up and we had a good trade 
 all the afternoon, tonite we made cigars and fly- 
 boxes and snappers. Beany is a prety good feller 
 to have a store with only he smokes and drinks 
 two mutch. 
 
 Mar. 16. Brite and fair, i saw a blewbird to- 
 day. Beany come over erly and we had a good 
 trade. Beany smoked so many sweet firn cigars 
 
 81 
 
" 8 e q n i I " 
 
 and drank so mutch sweatened water that i told 
 him he coodent be my pardner unless he smoked 
 cheeper cigars and only drank 4 glasses a day. 
 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening, that is 
 enuf for enny man. 
 
 Mar. 1 7. Rany today, not mutch trade. Pewt 
 and Nipper has got a store in Pewts shed. Tom- 
 tit says he has got beter things than we have and 
 he got all the fellers to go up there. Tomtit was 
 mad becaus we woodent take sheet iron for pay. 
 you cant get ennything for sheet iron down to 
 old Getchels and if we took it for pay enny feller 
 cood go out and pick up a old stove pipe and buy 
 out your store. 
 
 Mar. 18. brite and fair, no i mean it is clowdy. 
 Beany is acting prety queer, he has been talking 
 with Pewt, and last nite he promised to come 
 over and make cigars and he dident come and 
 Nipper said Beany was over to Pewts. today he 
 was prety sassy and said he would drink all the 
 82 
 
" S e a u i I " 
 
 sweatened water he wanted, he was away all the 
 afternoon. 
 
 Mar. 19. Beany dident make up enny faces 
 behind the organ today, after church i holered at 
 him and he woodent look round, i bet he is go- 
 ing to keep store with Pewt. i dont care. 
 
 Mar. 20. Beany came over this morning and 
 said he was going to be pardner with Pewt and 
 he wanted his stuff and his half of the iron and 
 nails. I told him he was a mean cuss and he said 
 he woodent be pardner with a feller whitch 
 woodent let him drink and smoke out of the 
 store, he said Pewt wasent so mean as all that, 
 so we divided the stuff and Beany wanted half of 
 what nails and iron i had taken before we were 
 pardners. he dident get it you bet, and he did- 
 ent get enny sweatened water neether. 
 
 Mar. 21. brite and fair. Medo Thirsten came 
 up today and wanted to buy my stuff and i sold it 
 all to him. i am glad to get out of the store so i 
 
 83 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 can go of with Potter and Chick Chickering. we 
 went up to the Eddy today, we saw some black- 
 birds and some robins and 3 blewbirds, and got 
 2 last years nests, it is almost time for flying 
 squerels. we saw a redder today. 
 
 Mar. 22. I saw Beany today and he run out 
 his tung at me. all rite for you Beany. 
 
 Mar. 23. it raned and was auful windy today, 
 i sold my iron and bones today to old Getchel for 
 42 cents, i took out 12 cents to treet the fellers 
 and put 30 cents with my cornet money. 
 
 Mar. 24. it was warm today and fine. I saw 
 some wild geese flying over today, it made me 
 feel funny to hear them holler, me and Potter 
 and Chick went out in the woods today with our 
 bows and arrows and bilt a fire and fride some 
 potatose. 
 
 Mar. 25. this is the last day of vacation. 
 Beany and Pewt have had a auful row, Beany says 
 Pewt sold all the iron and nails and kept most of 
 84 
 
" § e a u 
 
 ** 
 
 the money. Pewt says Beany drank up more 
 then the moneys wirth of sweatened water and 
 smoked all the best cigars i am glad of it. i gess 
 the next time Beany will know more. 
 
 Mar. 26. Sunday, nothing to do but go to 
 church and think of going to school tomorow. 
 i wonder if i shall get a licking this tirm 
 
 Mar. 27. i went to school today, they isent 
 much fun now. it is two muddy to play enny- 
 thing. so the fellers all have clappers and we 
 clap all the time. Skinny Bruce is the best one. 
 he has some bone clappers that jest ring. Fatty 
 Gilman has got some made of black walnut. 
 
 Mar. 28. we plaid ball a little today, it is get- 
 ing prety dry in the school yard now. 
 
 Mar. 29. it snowed a little today and then 
 melted, they wasent enuf for snow balling, my 
 hens has begun to lay. 
 
 Mar. 30. the top of my roosters comb whitch 
 was frose last winter when i was sick has come of 
 
 85 
 
" S e a u i 1 •• 
 
 and his comb is all smooth and shiny and hasent 
 got enny picks on it. 
 
 Mar. 31. brite and fair tomorow is april fool 
 day. i am going to get one on Beany. 
 
 Apr. 1. today i had a good one to get on 
 Beany, i rung the doorbell of our house and 
 mother came to the door and i stood there laffin 
 and she laffed and said i am glad to see you sir 
 because i want you to fill the woodbox and get 
 me 5 pails of water, gosh i dident think it was so 
 funny, at school old Francis woodent let us play 
 april fools on each other but in the afternoon i 
 went over to get Beany to come with me to get a 
 4 foot yardstick down to Lyfords. i was going to 
 get Beany to ask for it and then they wood lam 
 him, becaus they isent enny 4 foot yardstick. 
 i jest laffed to think of Beany getting licked, 
 well when i asked Beany he said he wood go 
 only his father wanted him to go down to old 
 Kellogs harness shop to get a pint of strap oil to 
 86 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 oil some harnes, and if i wood go with him ferst 
 he would go with me. so i said yes and we went, 
 jest before we got there Beany said you go in and 
 ask for it, and i will wait becaus old Kellog dont 
 like me very well, so i went in and old Kellog 
 was sitting straddle of a seet with big wooden 
 nippers on it and he was sowing on a harness 
 and he said cross like what do you want and i 
 said i want a pint of strap oil and he said o yes i 
 have got some good strap oil and he got down 
 and grabed me by the coller and took down a 
 strap and licked me till i hollered, then he let 
 me go and when i went out rubing my legs 
 Beany was jest laffing fit to die and he said you 
 thought you was prety smart old Plupy to get me 
 to go down for a 4 foot yard stick dident you. 
 and then he ran his tung out and run of down 
 town, i will pay Beany for that. 
 
 Apr. 2. brite and fair, i went to church. 
 
 Apr. 3. Father is going to have a garden and i 
 
 87 
 
« S e q « i 1 " 
 
 have got to dig it up. Father says he is going to 
 help me but i know how it will be. he will dig 
 about ten minits and then he will go over to see 
 Beanys father, i dont see why it is that jest as 
 soon as it is time for fishing father wants to make 
 me wirk. Pewt cought 3 pirch today. 
 
 Apr. 4. Brite and fair, last nite we went dig- 
 ing up the garden, father began to dig and dug 
 about a minit and then he stoped and went in 
 the house to change his shues, and then he come 
 out and took of his coat and then he dug a nother 
 minit and then he went to the fence and talked 
 with Sam Dire and then he took of his vest and 
 took up his spade and then he said i was doing 
 splendid and he wanted to see Wats a minit and 
 he went over to see Beanys father jest as i said he 
 wood and dident come back, well i dug until 
 mother called me in to go to bed and i got about 
 a pan full of wirms. tonite me and father are go- 
 ing to dig some more, my back is lame. 
 88 
 
" S e 4 n i 1 " 
 
 Apr. 5. Brite and fair, last nite father told me 
 to cut the eyes out of a lot of potatose to plant, 
 so this noon and after school me and Keene and 
 Cele cut out the eyes of the potatose. we raced 
 to see which wood beet, i had a sharp spoon 
 handel, Keene a darning needle, and Cele a pen- 
 nife. we had 3 cups to put the eyes in and when 
 we got the eyes all dug out we counted the eyes. 
 Cele had 176 Keene 158 and i had 143. jest as 
 we got done father came home, so we showed 
 him the eyes and i wish you cood see him. i 
 woodent dare to wright what he said, if i talked 
 like he did he wood have sent me to bed for a 
 year, i gess he wood have licked us all but 
 mother laffed and laffed and said we dident know 
 enuf about farming, so we only got sent to bed. 
 
 Apr. 6. brite and fair, i hoped it wood rane 
 today so we coodent dig. but it dident. if they 
 had been a circus it wood have raned like time. 
 last nite we dug some more, father started all 
 
 89 
 
" S e o n i 1 " 
 
 rite but jest then he said he had got to go down 
 town with mother, so i dug until Beany and 
 Pewt came over and then we begun to plug 
 peaces of dirt at Charly Dire and after a while 
 somebody broke a window in Sam Dires house. 
 Pewt said it was me and Beany said it was Pewt. 
 father came home and sent me to bed. he give 
 Sam Dire 25 cents for the window, ennyway 
 Pewt broke it. 
 
 Apr. 7. brite and fair. 
 
 Apr. 8, 186- it raned today, i am glad 
 of it. 
 
 Apr. 9- it raned today, i am glad of it. i 
 went to church. 
 
 Apr. 10. tonite me and Beany and Whack 
 finished diging all the rest of the garden, when 
 father came home he went out and steped on a 
 rake that was lying down with the sharp points 
 up and ran it into his foot and he came limping 
 into the house swaring auful, but he wasent much 
 90 
 
"Sean 
 
 99 
 
 hurt and isent going to have enny garden, enny- 
 way he left the rake there himself. 
 
 Apr. 11, 186- Brite and fair, father is going 
 to have some geese, he went to Dal Gilmors and 
 Dal said you cood keep geese for nothing becaus 
 all they et was grass and father says he can raise 
 geese on grass until October and then kill them 
 and sell them and make lots of money, ennyway 
 they was grass enuf becaus we want going to have 
 enny garden since father steped on the rake. 
 Dal Gilmor has got a old goose whitch is more 
 then 30 years old. i bet he is tuf. 
 
 Apr. 12. Brite and fair, father came home 
 tonite erly and we begun to make a geese pond, 
 we took a baril and cut it in 2 and made 2 tubs, 
 then we dug a hole in the garden and put in 1 
 tub and filled it with water, it made a buly 
 pond, next saterday father is coming home erly 
 and we are going to hampton falls to get sum 
 geese eggs. 
 
 91 
 
6fc 
 
 S e a n i I ♦» 
 
 Apr. 13. Rany Franky fell out of bed last 
 nite. father said it was my fait, the baby had 
 the crupe. father says something is always the 
 matter. 
 
 Apr. 14. clowdy but no rane. beany has got a 
 dog, it is black and tan, not 2 dogs but jest 1. 
 his name is Gip and he can fite. 
 
 Apr. 15. still clowdy. Frank Hanes has got 
 a dog like Beanys. his name is Dime, i bet 
 he can fite. 
 
 Apr. 16. brite and fair, i put some minnies 
 in the geese pond today, it was after church 
 and i got them yesterday, they wood have dide 
 in the tin pail, so it wasent rong to put them 
 in Sunday, tomorow we are going down to get 
 the geese eggs. 
 
 Apr. 1 7. brite and fair, i am wrighting this in 
 
 bed. it has been a prety tuf day i tell you. father 
 
 coodent come home erly becaus he had to wirk, 
 
 so he give me fifty cents and me and Beany went 
 
 92 
 
" S e a u 
 
 ** 
 
 down to hampton falls after the geese eggs, well 
 we got them and started home, we had Beanys 
 fathers horse and we saw a old black horse by the 
 side of the road and Beany said i wood like to 
 plug him with a geese egg, i said praps they is a 
 roten egg there, so we shook the eggs till by and 
 by they was one whitch ratled. then Beany choze 
 to plug him and he let ding at him and the egg 
 hit him a paister rite in the side and broak 
 and spatered him all over with yellow, and he 
 kicked up and ran away before i cood get a nother 
 egg. then we went on till we saw 2 cows and we 
 shook the eggs again till we got 2 whitch ratled 
 and when we went by we stood up in the wagon 
 and let ding at the cows, i hit one rite in the 
 frunt of her head and the yellow ran down over 
 her nose and Beany hit the other in the side and 
 then a man holered at us and we licked the horse 
 and drove of lively, then we saw a cat sitting in 
 a barn door and we both let ding at her but 
 
 93 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 dident hit her and both eggs smached agenst the 
 barn and the cat ran into the barn and a man 
 came out with a tin pail in his hand and a little 
 stool in the other and holered at us and we 
 licked up the horse again, after that we dident 
 plug enny more for they was only 7 eggs left and 
 they only ratled a little, when we got home 
 Beany let me out and i told father about the 
 eggs being roten, he was prety mad and said i had 
 aught to have shook them before i took them, he 
 asked me what i did with the roten eggs and i 
 said i threw them away and jest then Mister Wat- 
 son Beanys father came over with Beany and 2 
 men and it was the same man whose horse we 
 pluged with roten eggs, and the man who holered 
 at us when we plugged the old cows, the man 
 grabed me by the coller and told father i was the 
 wirst boy in the town and if father dident lick me 
 out of my skin he wood, and father said hold 
 on there, they aint nobody going to lick my boy 
 94 
 
'* S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 unless he licks me ferst, and he walked up to the 
 man prety quick, and the man let go my coller and 
 father said if they is any licking to be done i 
 can do all that is necesary, and the man said 
 we are going to have him arested, and father said 
 what has he done and the man said these two 
 boys have been throwing rocks at my horse and 
 have cut a big gash in his side and he is all over 
 blud, and the other man said we had been plug- 
 ing rocks at his cows and had cut one on the head 
 and one on the side well me and Beany said we 
 only threw geese eggs at them and the blud was the 
 runny part of the eggs and we crossed our throtes 
 and hoped to die if it wasent so, and father said 
 to the man did you xamine the gash and he said 
 he was so mad when he see the horse that he 
 hitched up the other horse and followed us and 
 told his hired man to look after the horse and 
 brogt the other man to. so father said to Beanys 
 father to hich up his horse and we wood go down 
 
 95 
 
" S e a n i 1 
 
 99 
 
 and see if we had lied to him and he said if i had 
 lied to him he wood give me the wirst licking i 
 ever had. well jest as we were going to get in the 
 wagon the man whitch had the tin pail and the 
 stool in his hand come driving up and said we 
 had been pluging roten eggs at his barn and 
 father said he wood be cussed if he ever saw such 
 boys, and me and Beany said we dident mean to 
 hit the barn but we pluged at the cat and dident 
 hit her. then the other men told him about the 
 horse and cows and he said it was only roten 
 eggs and then they felt beter, and they said they 
 was willing to let us of with a good licking, but 
 father said he woodent lick me for ennybody else, 
 but he wood pay them for their truble and they 
 said they wood settle for fifty cents each and i had 
 to pay it out of my cornet money, i only had one 
 dollar and 30 cents but Aunt Sarah give me 20 
 cents, i beleive i had rather got a licking for it 
 will take me 6 weaks to ern so much money and i 
 96 
 
" S e o n i 1 " 
 
 wood have got over a licking as soon as i got 
 to sleep, then father sent me to bed. i wonder if 
 Beanys father licked him. i shall know tomorow. 
 
 Apr. 18. Brite and fair. Beany dident get 
 licked. 
 
 Apr. 19. Brite and fair, i bet father cood 
 have licked those 3 hampton falls men together 
 easy. 
 
 Apr. 20. Brite and fair, i shall never get that 
 cornet. 
 
 Apr. 21. i had some fun today, they wasent 
 enny school today becaus old Francis had to go to 
 a funeral or something, so i bilt a nest for my 
 hens. 
 
 Apr. 22. Brite and fair, father aint going to 
 have enny geese, tonite we got a old yellow hen 
 of Sam Dire and set her on 7 eggs in the horse- 
 stalj and then we had super, nothing hapened at 
 super xcept that Keene got sent to bed for sticking 
 but her tung at father when she thought he 
 
 97 
 
•* S e q n i I »» 
 
 wasent looking but he was, becaus he woodent let 
 her go over to see Lucy Watson Beanys sisters 
 new hat. well after it was dark father said i 
 forgot to pay Sam for his hen and he started rite 
 acros the garden to go over to Sam Diars and it 
 was dark and i herd a auful splash and thumping 
 round and feerful swaring and i knew father was 
 in the geese pond, i woodent dass to wright 
 down what he said, if i had said what he did he 
 wood have sent me to bed for a year, well he 
 came limping home and swaring into the house 
 and he made me get a lanten and we went out 
 to the barn and he took the old hen by her hind 
 legs and swung her round jest as we fellers do 
 when we plug apples on a stick and pluged her 
 way over in Sam Diars yard and then he took the 
 eggs and pluged them as far as he cood and told 
 me to fill up the pond tomorow or he wood lick 
 me. then we went in and mother and aunt Sarah 
 nearly killed themselves laffin and father said i 
 98 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 spose you wood laff if i killed myself and when i 
 went up to bed i laffed easy and Keene and Cele 
 were laffing under the bed close, bimeby i herd 
 father laffin and then we all laffed loud, jest 
 think i had to pay a dollar and a half of my 
 cornet money for pluging 5 eggs and father 
 pluged 7 eggs and a old hen and dident have to 
 pay ennything, ennyway it was fun to see him. 
 
 Apr. 23. Brite and fair, i filled up the geese 
 pond, it was sunday but it was after dark. 
 
 Apr. 24. Brite and fair, when father came 
 home i told him i had filled up the geese pond 
 and he asked me where the tub was and when i 
 said i had filled it up he said i was a loonatic and 
 dident know enuf to go in when it raned. so he 
 made me dig out the tub and fill in the hole, i 
 tell you i have to wirk prety hard. 
 
 Apr. 25. Brite and fair, today old man Thirsten 
 Medos father came to the house and told mother 
 someone had pluged roten eggs at his barn. 
 
 99 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 mother dident know what to say for a minit for 
 she dident want to tell about fathers falling into 
 the geese pond, so she said she was very sure i 
 hadent done it but she wood speak to father 
 about it, so when father got home old man 
 Thirsten came up to the house and said George 
 that cussid boy of yours has been pluging roten 
 eggs at my barn and father said this time Kimball, 
 his name is Kimball, he dident do it for he was 
 with me all the evening til he went to bed. so 
 father and old man Thirsten went down to see 
 the barn and it was all spatered with yellow, 
 then old man Thirsten said he wood give a dolar 
 to know who the scowndril was whitch pluged 
 those eggs, and father said i wish you cood Kim- 
 ball, it is a outrage, and father looked auful funny, 
 jest as he did when he scart old Ike Shute that 
 time on the high school steps, when we went 
 home father kept laffing, and when he told 
 mother she said it was a shame and he aught to 
 100 
 
" S e q n i 1 »• 
 
 make it rite with him, and so father bought a 
 sawhoss of him, he sells sawhosses, and i have got 
 to use it. somehow i always get the wirst of it. 
 
 Apr. 26, 186- it raned like time last nite but 
 it was brite and fair when i got up. what do you 
 think, me and Beany are going to by a horse of 
 old Nat Mason, he lives down Stratam road and 
 he has a old troter that can go like time. 
 
 Apr. 27. brite and fair, me and Beany saw old 
 Nat today, we aint got enny chink, if i hadent 
 paid that money to those hampton falls men for 
 pluging roten eggs at there cows i should have 
 sum. all i can rase is thirty five cents and Beany 
 can rase fifteen cents. Fatty Gilman most always 
 has lots of chink. 
 
 Apr. 28. me and Beany saw Fatty today, he 
 wants to go in with us becaus he says his folks 
 want to use old Chub so mutch that he dont get 
 enny chance to use him. but Fatty he hasent got 
 enny chink eether. enny way we are going to see 
 
 101 
 
" $ e « u i 1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 old Nat tomorrow and peraps he will let us have 
 it on tick. 
 
 Apr. 29- brite and fair, today was saterday and 
 this afternoon me and Beany and Fatty went down 
 to see old Nat. he was in a old house smoking a 
 old pipe made out of a corn cob. so Fatty he asked 
 him to show us his old plug, only Fatty dident say 
 old plug but said Mister Mason can we see your 
 troting horse, and old Nat he got up and went to 
 a little barn and opened the door and holered get 
 up lady Clara and she tride to get up and coodent, 
 and old Nat swoar and kicked her and then she 
 coodent get up, and then he clim over her and 
 puled her head up into the rack and then he 
 took a stick and hit her sum more and swoar sum 
 more and then she got up. then Beany he asked 
 old Nat what made her not get up and he said 
 that troting horses most never laid down more 
 than once or twict a weak and sum of the best 
 troters never laid down, he said Dexter and 
 102 
 
*» S e a 11 i I " 
 
 Flora Tempel never was knowed to lay down, 
 then Fatty asked him to let us see her trot and 
 he hiched her into a buggy and we set on the 
 fence and old Nat he drove of most walking, 
 bimeby we herd the old wagon ratling and old 
 Nat he came down the street just nuking. I 
 never saw a horse go so fast, i tell you old Nat 
 he had to pull to stop her. she breethed prety 
 hard and jerky, but Nat he said it was hickups 
 becaus she had et too mutch. Fatty he asked 
 how old she was and old Nat he said she was 
 bout 12 but that she wood be good til she was 
 30. Then we asked how mutch he wood sell her 
 for and he said he wanted 5 dolers for her but he 
 wood let us have her for 2 dolars and fifty cents 
 and we could have the wagon for 2 dolars and 
 fifty cents two, and he wood throw in the harnes. 
 but we dident have the money and so we tride to 
 swap and bimeby he said if i wood give him my 
 gun and Fatty wood give him his silver pensil 
 
 103 
 
»* S e q n i I ♦» 
 
 case and Beany give him his 6 bladed nife he 
 wood trust us for a month, so we give him the 
 things and he give us the horse, only we coodent 
 take her then becaus we have got to find a place 
 to keep her. none of us dass to tell our folks 
 about it. we woodent let Fatty know about it if 
 we hadent suposed he had plenty of chink. 
 
 Apr. 30. brite and fair, after church today we 
 went round to see if we cood get a place to keep 
 our horse, we asked Noot Crumet but Noot he said 
 he dident have enny place to put her unles he give 
 her his room and he told us to go to Bucher Haly 
 and see if we coodent get a chanse to put her in his 
 smoke house for we cood keep her longer there 
 than enny where else and so we went to him and 
 he chased us out of his yard, then we went to 
 Charles Flanders but he dident have but one 
 room and his shed wasent big enuf to keep a 
 gote, and then we went over to old Jethrow 
 Simpsons and Jethrow he said if we wood help 
 104- 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 him haul wood enuf to fill his shed we cood keep 
 her in his barn as long as we wanted to and have 
 enuf hay two. 
 
 May 1. it was may day today and we dident 
 have enny school, so me and Beany went up to 
 Fattys and got him and we went down to old 
 Nats. We wood have run all the way only Fatty 
 got tukered out. When we got there old Nat 
 made us promise to give him a hat or a pair of 
 old boots becaus he kept lady Clara over Sunday. 
 Fatty he said they was lots of old hats at home 
 and so we went way back and got a old tall bever 
 hat and then old Nat hiched up lady Clara and 
 we piled in. Fatty he drove ferst becaus he said 
 we coodent have got her unless he had got the 
 old tall bever. so Fatty he drove up as fur as ass 
 brook and then Beany he drove as fur as the old 
 brick meeting house and then i drove as fur as 
 the hall place where Jethrow lives, we all had to 
 stand up when we drove becaus the ranes is two 
 
 105 
 
■■ i I 
 
 }* 
 
 short, when we got there old Jethrow was there 
 and he had a dingel cart and we hiched lady 
 Clara into it and went up to Jady Hill for sum 
 wood, we wirked till 1 2 oh clock and then we run 
 home to dinner and run back agen. i took all the 
 meal i had for my hens most 2 quarts and i fed 
 her. it is Fattys tirn next to get meal for her. 
 then we wirked til six oh clock and we were all- 
 most ded we were so tired, well when we asked 
 old Jethrow whitch stal we shood put her in he 
 told us to take our old plug and get out or he 
 wood lick us. jest think of that, well we dident 
 know what to do. so we waited til most dark 
 and then Beany said we had beter go to the next 
 house becaus they was a big shed there, so i 
 said i wood ring if Fatty wood ask and so i rung 
 the bell and a woman came to the door and Fatty 
 told her all about it and she said old Jethrow was 
 a meen old skin flint and we cood put our horse 
 in her shed and cood keep her their as long as 
 106 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 we wanted to. so she give us a lantern and we 
 went out and they was a buly place and we made 
 a stal with 2 boards and put a lot of saw dust un- 
 der her and give her a pale of water only we did- 
 ent have enny hay. well bimeby Beany said that 
 he cood see the hay sticking out of the cracks in 
 old Jethrows barn, and we went over and looked 
 and we cood see plenty of hay there, so Fatty he 
 said we had ernt that hay and we aught to have 
 it, and Beany said so two, and Fatty said he 
 woodent steal ennything but this hay was ours 
 and we had ernt it. so Fatty and Beany puled 
 out a board and held it open while i puled out 
 enuf hay and then we fed lady Clara and went 
 home, ennyway the hay was ours and it wasent 
 stealing to take it. 
 
 May 2. brite and fair, this morning i got up 
 erly and went over to the barn. Beany he was 
 there and Fatty he came after i had got there, 
 lady Clara was laying down and woodent get up. 
 
 107 
 
nil 
 
 99 
 
 i gess she was prety tired, so we fed her and 
 Fatty brogt some otes. so we curred her down as 
 far as we cood reech and brushed her and then 
 we went home, at brekfast mother asked me 
 what made me smel so barny and i said i had 
 been helping Fatty curry his horse, at noon we 
 fed her agen and tonite we got her up and curred 
 her other side, we dident drive her today. 
 
 May 3. rany as time, we cant drive lady Clara 
 today, we curred her 2 times. 
 
 May 4. tonite we drove lady Clara. We went 
 down Newmarket road, we took tirns driving, 
 one of the wheals come of and we had to get out 
 and walk home holding on the wheal. 
 
 May 5. Ed Adams give us a nut and we fixed 
 the wheal, we had a ride tonite. i tell you lady 
 Clara can go. we beat Gim Lovering tonite. he 
 dident know who we was becaus it was two dark 
 but we knowed him. we beat him and then we 
 waited for him to come up and then we beat him 
 108 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 agen. we did that 3 times, and Gim he was 
 mad. 
 
 May 6. my hens dont lay enny now. i gess i 
 dont give them enuf to eat. it is prety hard to 
 keep a horse and hens two. we dident drive to- 
 nite becaus it raned. it was brite and fair yes- 
 terday. 
 
 May 7. today was Sunday and we coodent 
 drive lady Clara, tomorrow nite we are going to 
 lay for old man Churchil with his troter. i bet we 
 can beat him. 
 
 May 8. i have missed in my lesons most every 
 day, and so has Fatty and Beany, today i swaped 
 a hen for a buchel of meal for lady Clara, we 
 drove her tonite but we dident find ennyone to 
 race. 
 
 May 9- brite and fair, if Beany dont shell out 
 more meal he wont drive lady Clara agen. 
 
 May 10. Beany got a peck of meal today at 
 old Si Smiths, he charged it to his father. 
 
 109 
 
" S e q w i 1 ■*« 
 
 May 11. we had a buly ride tonite we raced 
 4 fellers and beat them. 
 
 May 12. brite and fair, tonite we coodent get 
 lady Clara up. we are going to try agen tomor- 
 row and drive her in the day time. 
 
 May 1 3. rany agen. we got lady Clara up this 
 morning. Beany and Fatty pulled in front and i 
 licked behind, this afternoon one of our wheals 
 broak down. Ed Adams give us a nother wheal, 
 it went on all rite only it isent as big as the other 
 wheals and it makes the wagon go one sided a 
 little, we had a good ride today, we have to be 
 pretty careful in timing around a corner becaus 
 the wagon is one sided. 
 
 May 1 4. today was sunday. father told me if i 
 smelt so of the barn he woodent let me go up 
 to Fattys agen. i bet he wood be mad if he 
 knowed i oned a horse. 
 
 May 15. there was a fite in school today, i 
 dont care mutch about fites now. i had ruther 
 110 
 
" S e aui 1 
 
 ** 
 
 race horses, tonite we raced with a big white 
 horse and beat him esy. we all had to pull on the 
 ranes to stop lady Clara. 
 
 May 16. brite and fair. Beany is behind 5* 
 feeds and me and Fatty had to make it up. last 
 nite lady Clara lost a shue. so this morning be- 
 fore school we walked every where we drove last 
 nite and Beany found the shue way down to long 
 meter Dows on Hamton road. Beany he said if 
 we wood call it square about the feeds he wood 
 get Gim Elerson to nale on the shue. so we did 
 and Beany got Gim to nale on the shue. Beany 
 he raked up Gims front yard to pay him. Beany 
 is a prety good feller. Fatty had company to his 
 house and we dident go to ride tonite. it was 
 two bad. 
 
 May 17. rany as time, we coodent go to ride 
 today, it always ranes jest when a feller wants to 
 do some thing. 
 
 Ill 
 
" S e q n i 1 « 
 
 May 18. it raned all yesterday and last nite 
 and today, i bet it will rane a week, we are 
 having prety tuf luck. 
 
 May 1 9- at last it has stoped raning. i thaught 
 i never shood wright brite and fair agen. we had 
 a buly ride tonite after we had tide up the bridle 
 with sum rope, lady Clara fell down and we had 
 to unharnes her and get her up. she broak the 
 bridle and skined her gnees and we put on sum 
 wheal greese. Beany was standing up driving 
 when she fell down and it draged him rite over the 
 dasher and on top of lady Clara, tomorow they is 
 going to be a ministers meeting in the upper 
 church and there aint enny school tomorow. so we 
 are going to drive all day. after school we washed 
 the harness and got a load of sawdust at the hub 
 mill, and curred lady Clara, we have got most all 
 the hay we can reech. when we cant reech enny 
 more i dont know where we can get enny more 
 unless Fatty can get sum. 
 J12 
 
"Seon 
 
 *9 
 
 May 21. Brite and fair, i had a feerful day. 
 yesterday, i feel so bad i cant hardly wright enny- 
 thing. but i will try to wright it all down, in the 
 morning me and Beany and Fatty we hiched up 
 lady Clara and drove round town, sum of the fellers 
 holered at us but we dident care, they was lots of 
 ministers in town, they was mostly long tailers 
 with white necktis. so in the afternoon we hiched 
 up agen and drove up to the depot, old wood- 
 bridge Odlin was there wating for the 2 oh clock 
 trane. he had a baruch with a driver and his new 
 span of black horses with cliped tails, and he had 
 on his long tailed black coat and a shiny bever 
 hat. well we dident wate for the trane but we 
 drove through Winter street and out to Front 
 street, when we came to Lincoln street old 
 Woodbridge Odlin came along with his baruch 
 filled with old ministers with bever hats and 
 specks and white necktis, and the driver hit the 
 horses and away they went lickity lamp, well 
 
 113 
 
»• S e q n i 1 " 
 
 Beany he was driving and he leened over and hit 
 lady Clara a paist with the whip and she went 
 after them like chane litening, and we all began 
 to yell and the black horses went faster, well 
 they was 2 rods ahead and when we got to 
 Whackers house we was most up to there hind 
 wheel, and when we got to doctor Gorams office 
 we was jest even, the old ministers was bouncing 
 around and holding on to the sides, and old 
 Woodbridge had lost his hat and was standing up 
 yelling sumthing at the driver, and his whiskers 
 were blowing way behind him. it makes me most 
 die to think of him but i dont feel mutch like 
 laffin. well when we got to Elliott street we were 
 ahead of them and then the driver began to pull 
 up his horses becaus all the people was yelling 
 and waving there hats like time, well lady Clara 
 was breething so she sounded like a big sawmill 
 saw, and when we tride to stop her she woodent 
 stop so we all tride together but we coodent pull 
 114 
 
" S e a n 
 
 ** 
 
 her in a mite she had her tail sticking rite up in 
 the air and the more we pulled the faster she went, 
 when we went thru the square Fatty holered to 
 run her over string brige and up factory hill so we 
 cood stop her, and we pulled as hard as we cood 
 but when she came to the corner she tirned around 
 into Water street and over went the wagon and we 
 came out jest fluking, well we want hurt mutch 
 and we run after her as fast as we cood. we 
 found pieces of the wagon and harnes all over the 
 street and when we got to the barn she was there 
 all rite, lots of people came to see about it, but 
 when they found that nobody was hurt they went 
 away, they wasent ennything of the harnes left 
 but the bridle and the wagon was everywhere 
 along the street. Well when father came home 
 somebody had told him about it and he made 
 me tell him all about it, where we got her 
 and how we fed her and everything, and when i 
 told him about the hay i thought he was going to 
 
 115 
 
" S c q 11 i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 lick time out of me he was so mad, and he said 
 he never knowed i cood steal, and i said i only 
 hooked it and he said what is the diference and i 
 said stealing is taking sumthing that you know 
 belongs to sumbody else, and hooking is taking 
 sumthing that belongs to you and sumbody else 
 wont let you have, i suposed everybody knowed 
 that, well he dident lick me, but after super he 
 got mister Watson, Beanys father and we all went 
 over to see lady Clara and what do you think, 
 when we got there she was ded. i gess she had 
 broak something inside of her. i tell you me and 
 Beany felt prety bad and Fatty did when we told 
 him. well then father and mister Watson Beanys 
 father told us to go home and go to bed and so 
 we went, so tonite i herd father telling mother 
 about it and he said he give old Jethrow a dresing 
 down that wood tech him not to cheet a boy agen. 
 he said if Jethrow hadent been a old man he wood 
 have nocked his head of. 
 116 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 May 22. brite and fair, i shal never own 
 a horse agen. 
 
 May 23, 186- brite and fair, my hens are 
 laying buly now. i gess they dident have very 
 good cair when me and Beany and Fatty was 
 keeping Lady Clara, i tell you a feller witch 
 keeps a horse cant pay mutch atention to enny- 
 thing else. 
 
 May 24. brite and fair, tonite me and father 
 went down to old man Collins, he wants to sell 
 father his cow. he says she gives 20 quats of milk 
 a day. father says the milk we get of the milk 
 man is all chork and water. 
 
 May 25. rany as time, father ofered 30 dolars 
 for old man Collins cow. he wants 35 dolars. she 
 has got aural long horns, old man Collins said she 
 had aural big milk vanes, father said they was 
 varrycose vanes and she want wirth 30 dolars but 
 he wood give it to help out a old man. old man 
 Collins he said if she kep on giving milk the way 
 
 117 
 
" S e 4 u i 1 »» 
 
 she was a giving it they wood have to milk her 
 in a tub. then father he said he gessed she give 
 so mutch milk that it want good for ennything 
 and old man Collins he said you cood take the 
 creem up by one corner and lift it out like a 
 old pair of linen britches, they dident trade 
 tonite. 
 
 May 26. brite and fair, tonite me and father 
 went down to old man Collins agen. father said 
 he was going to trade for that cow only i must 
 shet up and not say ennything. he said you jest 
 wach me and you will lern sumthing about trading, 
 so i wached him. well we went down and father 
 said well mister Collins how do you feel about 
 trading tonite. and old man Collins he said, i gess 
 you are two late George fer i have sold her to 
 a man in Hamton Falls, and father said what did 
 you get for her and old man Collins he said i told 
 him he cood have her for 35 dolars and he ofered 
 me 33 dolars and 50 cents and i said the first man 
 118 
 
" S c a u i I " 
 
 whitch ofers me 35 dolars gets her, and i gess he 
 will be up tomorow morning, then father he said 
 have you made the trade and old man Collins he 
 said he hadent made enny trade but he had kind 
 of let the man understand he cood have her for 
 35 dolars. then father he said he wood give 35 
 dolars and old man Collins he said he dident know 
 about selling her xcept to the Hamton Falls man 
 but if father wood give him 37 dolars he cood give 
 the Hamton Falls man 2 dolars if he came up 
 and was disapointed. so father he give old man 
 Collins 37 dolars and we got a roap and tide it 
 round her horns and led her home, when we got 
 home we tried to get her in the barn, father he 
 went ahead and she folowed him in and all of a 
 suddin she backed out lively and father came out 
 jest nuking, holding on to the roap and taking 
 feerful long stradles. he looked so mad that i did- 
 ent dass to laff. well father held on like a good fel- 
 ler and bimeby she stoped. then father said so so 
 
 119 
 
" S e o u 
 
 ** 
 
 and held out sum meal in a pail and got her in 
 the barn and tide her to a post, then he give her 
 sum hay and we went in and he told mother she 
 had beter make sum araingments to sell sum milk 
 for we was going to have 20 quats every day. 
 then mother she said if the cow gives milk like 
 my hens lade egs they woodent be mutch milk to 
 sell, and father said you jest wait til morning, 
 then we went down to old Gechels store and 
 father he bougt the bigest milk pail he cood find. 
 May 27. brite and fair, this morning me and 
 father got up erly and we went out to feed the 
 cow and i piched down the hay and father he set 
 down and begun to milk her, he brougt out the 
 big pail and a little one to use after he had filled 
 the big one. well the ferst thing he did was to 
 aim a streem rite in my eye. then he milked in 
 the pail and it made a funy sound, well he kep 
 milking and bimeby it stoped coming, and he 
 squeazed away as hard as he cood and he coodent 
 120 
 
u S e q u 
 
 99 
 
 get a drop and bimeby he give up and said he 
 gessed it was becaus she was in a new place and 
 was loansum. when we went into the house and 
 straned it thrugh a siv they wasent quite 2 quats. 
 mother she laffed and asked what he had done 
 with the other 8 quats and father he said you wait 
 til tonite. then he et his brekfast and went to bos- 
 ton and i et mine and drove the old cow to pas- 
 ture, i found a robins nest in a pine tree and 
 took one eg. it is all rite to take one becaus the 
 old bird cant count. 
 
 May 28, 186- brite and fair, last nite after 
 super father milked the old cow again, he only 
 got 2 quats and a half, he was prety mad and he 
 said he wood get even with old man Collins sum 
 day. tonite he met old man Collins and he asked 
 father if she milked esy and father said yes and 
 he asked father how mutch she give and father 
 said she give more than he wanted, that want a 
 lie for father dont like milk, i bet father will get 
 
 121 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 even with him sum day. nothing else today but 
 church. 
 
 May 29. brite and fair, i have to go to pasture 
 2 times every day. i like to go in the woods but 
 i dont like to have to go. today i found a nest in 
 the barn with 15 hens egs. i gess mother wont 
 say mutch about my hens now. 
 
 May 30. Rany. Beany has gone to Bideford to 
 see Tom Cleves. i hope Tom will come with him 
 when Beany comes home, i went up to Whacker 
 Chadwicks tonite. Beany has been sick he et two 
 mutch pork. 
 
 May 31. today it was hot and we had a thun- 
 der shower, it raned when i was driving the old 
 cow from pasture and i made her run from old 
 Nat Gordons way home. Sam Dire said she wood 
 give bludy milk, so when father milked her i 
 wached and it want a bit red. so i gess she is all 
 rite. 
 
 June 1. brite and fair, today we had a great 
 122 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 time at brekfast. father was home becaus sum- 
 times he gets tired, we had boiled egs for brek- 
 fast and mother she boiled the egs i found in the 
 nest, well we set down to the table and father he 
 helped us to egs and bisket and he took up a eg 
 and held it over his glass and hit it a paist with 
 his spoon and it went off jest like a pop pistol and 
 father he said thunder Joey the infernal thing is 
 roten and we all held our nose and ran away from 
 the table and you never smelt such a aural smel. 
 well mother she made me take the egs all out be- 
 hine the barn and throw them away and i did and 
 when i got there i had sum fun pluging them at 
 J. Albert Clarks big apple tree and i hit it most 
 every time and every time i hit it the eg popped 
 like a pistol, then i went in to brekfast and 
 mother was burning some cony in a duspan to 
 take away the smel of the roten eg. well while 
 we was eating brekfast J. Albert Clark he came 
 in and said i had beter come out and clean of his 
 
 123 
 
" S e q n i 1 »« 
 
 apple tree and burn a rag and father made me 
 take a pail of hot water and clean it of. J. Albert 
 needent have been so fusy for it wood have all 
 dride in a little while. 
 
 June 2. brite and fair, i wish that old cow 
 was ded. Beany hasent got back yet. 
 
 June 3. brite and fair, i am in bed. i aint 
 sick only i havent got enny close to wair. tonite 
 after father had milked the old cow i thougt i 
 wood try it. so i got a tin diper and went out and 
 set down and began to squeaze and she kicked 
 me rite thrugh the barn door and rite into the 
 manure pile, when i got up i was all covered and 
 Aunt Clark was in her back garden and she saw 
 me and asked me if i was hurt and i said i wasent 
 and she said for mersy sakes dont come near me 
 but go round to the pump, well i went round to 
 the pump and mother and Aunt Sarah and Aunt 
 Clark pumped on me and threw pails of water on 
 me and scraped me with peaces of shingle, and 
 124 
 
" S e a n 
 
 ** 
 
 when they had got me prety clean mother made 
 me go in the barn and take of my close and then 
 she put me in a tub in the kichen and washed me 
 in warm water and soped my head and then sent 
 me to bed. i have got to wair my best close to- 
 morow and i cant go out of the yard, i wish that 
 old cow was ded. father said it sirved me jest rite. 
 
 June 4. Brite and fair. Beany has got back, 
 tonite he came over and told me about the fun he 
 had at Bideford. we was going to ring doorbells 
 tonite but i had to stay in the yard and it was 
 Sunday two. 
 
 June 5. Brite and fair, today Scotty Brigam 
 let me take his bugle and i lerned to make 2 
 notes, my mouth was all sweled up and my face 
 aked. it aint so esy as a tin whissle but i can 
 make more noise on it. i gess i shall never get 
 that cornet. 
 
 June 6, 186- i have to pay all the money i can 
 ern to get corn for my hens. 
 
 125 
 
" S e a u 
 
 ** 
 
 June 7. Brite and fair in the morning and 
 clowdy but no rane in the afternoon, tonite me 
 and Beany rung doorbells, we dident get cougt 
 but we came prety near it. 
 
 June 8. Rany. Tonite the old cow kicked 
 father and nocked him rite of the stool and spilt 
 about a quat of milk all over him. buly. i wanted 
 to tell him it sirved him rite but i dident dass to. 
 
 June 9. Clowdy but no rane. father has sold 
 the old cow to Eben Garland the bucher. buly. 
 Aunt Sarah asked mother what she gessed he 
 wood have next and mother she said she gessed 
 he wood by a gristly bear for he had bougt most 
 everything but that, he says he gesses he will 
 have sum sheap for they cant bite or kick and 
 dont eat mutch. 
 
 June 10. brite and fair, the baby had the 
 
 croop last nite. the minit he coffed croopy father 
 
 and mother jumped out of bed and father he fell 
 
 over a chair and that waked us all up. then he 
 
 126 
 
" S e a u i 1 " 
 
 tride to lite a lamp and he coodent find the 
 maches and he swoar round feerful. well mother 
 she lit the lamp and they all went tearing round 
 and they got sum hot water and made the baby 
 eat some eg and sugar and put hot close on his 
 neck and prety soon he was all rite, then they 
 give me the rest of the eg and sugar, then we all 
 went to bed and i lay and laffed to think of father 
 tumbling over the chair and swaring. Ennyway 
 the baby is all rite. 
 
 June 11. i hate to go to church, we have all 
 got to be vaxinated. sum peeple in the next town 
 have got the small pocks. Beany has been and 
 Pewt two. Beany says the doctor takes a nife and 
 cuts a hole in your arm and then puts on a big 
 scab whitch has come of somebodys arm whitch 
 has been vaxinated, and that stops the blud. but 
 he says that if the scab dont fit you bleed to deth. 
 so i asked father about it tonite and he said that 
 Beany lied about it, but he says if you are vaxi- 
 
 127 
 
" S e a u i 1 " 
 
 nated with the scab of a redheaded person your 
 hair will turn red, and if he has warts or frekles 
 you will have warts two and frekles. father said 
 once when he was a boy he knew a feller whitch 
 was vaxinated with a scab of a cock-eyed man and 
 bimeby the feller began to squint and he kep on 
 squinting wirse and wirse and bimeby he was 
 cock-eyed two. and father he said he knew 
 another feller whitch had a wooden leg and he 
 sent his scab to another feller to be vaxinated and 
 that feller began to limp and he always walked 
 stifleged. i gess father was fooling, ennyway i 
 hope i shant be vaxinated with Skinny Bruces 
 scab, becaus he is redheaded, father he said he 
 was going to get a scab of Horis Cobb for me and 
 perhaps i wood have a little fat on me and not be 
 so spindel shanked, i wish i cood get a scab of 
 Gim Erly or Tady Finton and i cood lick time 
 out of Pewt. 
 
 June 12. brite and fair. Beany has a auful 
 128 
 
- 1 - S e qui 1 
 
 9? 
 
 sore arm. he dont dass to rassle or fite or do 
 ennything. 
 
 June 1 3. brite and fair. Pewt has got one two. 
 tomorrow nite the doctor is coming. 
 
 June 15. brite and fair, last nite after super 
 the doctor come and he went into the parlor and 
 father and mother and Cele and Keene and me 
 and Georgie and Annie and Frank and the baby 
 was all in the setting room, well ferst father went 
 in and he was only in there a few minits and he 
 dident holler enny and then he come out laffing, 
 and i asked him whose scab he had and he said 
 he dident know but it must have been from sum 
 minister becaus he had been thanking the lord it 
 was all over, then mother she went in and father 
 told her he had got the scab of old Mike Casey 
 for her. mother is english and she dont like the 
 irish and father said it to plage her. well she 
 went in and then Aunt Sarah went in and Keene 
 and Cele and they dident holler eether. then my 
 
 129 
 
•* S c q ii i 1 •• 
 
 tern came and i went in and it dident hurt a bit 
 only sort of smarted tickly like, i asked the doc- 
 tor whose scab i had and he said Bruce Brigams. 
 buly. Bruce Brigam is the best cornet player in 
 town, i bet i can play like time if i ever get a 
 cornet, then the rest of them went in and none 
 of them hollered xcept the baby ?nd he always 
 hollers when ennything is the matter, father told 
 Cele that he got old Nigger Tashs scab for her and 
 he gessed she wood begin to turn prety dark cul- 
 ored before a week or 2. Aunt Sarah told Cele 
 he was fooling. 
 
 June 16, 186— Brite and fair, my arm is all 
 rite. 
 
 June 1 7. Rany and thunderry. my arm begins 
 to ich a little only i cant scrach it. 
 
 June 18. still rany. all our arms begin to ich. 
 Annies arm is the wirst. we dident go to church 
 today. That is one good thing. I never knew it 
 to rane before on Sunday. 
 130 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 June 19. brite and fair, every one of us is 
 cross as time, i took hold of Georgies arm today 
 and she began to ball and said i did it purpose, i 
 keep hiting my arm agenst things all the time, 
 somehow i never hit the well one. that is always 
 the way with things. 
 
 June 20. brite and fair, father is cross two. 
 last nite he grabed me by the arm to shake me 
 and it hurt so i hollered like time, and then he 
 let me go and said he forgot about my arm. 
 
 June 21. brite and fair. Annie is in bed sick 
 with her arm. She always has things the wirst 
 xcept mother, only mother says she hasent enny 
 time to be sick. 
 
 June 22. brite and fair, my arm is still auful 
 sore and the wirst of it is becaus i cant go in 
 swimming. 
 
 June 23. Brite and fair. All our arms is bet- 
 ter. John Johnson who rings the town bell has 
 gone away for a week and Beanys father is going 
 
 131 
 
" S e q u i 1 t* 
 
 to ring it. He has to ring it at 7 oh clock in the 
 morning and at 1 oh clock in the afternoon and 
 at 9 oh clock in the nite except Saturday nites 
 when they ring it at 8 oh clock so that peeple 
 can get there baths before bedtime. Me and 
 Beany are going to lern to ring it. 
 
 June 24. Rany. me and Beany went up to the 
 church to-day to see Beanys father ring the town 
 bell, he let us pull it a little, it is prety esy. then 
 we went up at 1 oh clock and at 9 oh clock. 
 
 June 25. Rany again, most of our scabs has 
 come of. i dident go up to see Mister Watson 
 ring the bell this morning becaus i dident get up 
 in time, it was Sunday. Beany he dident neether, 
 but we did tonite. Beany can ring it prety well. 
 
 June 26. Brite and fair, jest think, Beanys 
 father is going to Portsmuth tomorrow and Beany 
 is going to ring the bell and he is going to let 
 me help him. Beany is a prety good feller, 
 mother sent of the scabs today to peeple whitch 
 132 
 
" S e 4 u i 1 »• 
 
 wanted them, nobody wanted mine, father said 
 it was becaus i was such a tuf feller. 
 
 June 27. Brite and fair, gosh if we dident 
 have a auful time today, in the morning me and 
 Beany went up to the church and rung the bell, 
 we had a good time and rung it jest so many 
 rings jest as mister Watson, Beanys father told us 
 to, then me and Beany both got kep after school, 
 and when we got out we asked Noot Crummet 
 what time it was and he said it was jest 1 
 oh clock and that the town bell had jest struck 
 and then me and Beany jest put for the church 
 as tite as we cood hiper, and we was prety near 
 tuckered out when we got there and we both 
 grabed hold of the roap and begun to ring the 
 bell, well we only rung it a few times before we 
 herd sumone holler fire, and then more peeple 
 begun to holler and we looked out and we saw 
 Charles Fifield and Charly Batcheldor and Chick 
 Randall and Jimmy Josie jest putting it for the 
 
 133 
 
" S e o u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 ingine house, and Beany said buly they is a fire, 
 and we begun to ring the bell as hard as we cood 
 and holler fire, then the Methydist bell begun to 
 ring and then the upper house bell, and Charles 
 Tolls horses came galoping down to the fountain 
 ingine house with Mat Sleeper driving. And Ma- 
 ger Blakes horses went by jest lickety larup for the 
 Torrent ingine house with old Brown driving, and 
 then Flunk Ham came piling into the church and 
 said, give me that roap and he puled like time, 
 then sum peeple came runing in and said where 
 is the fire, and Flunk he said we dident know, and 
 then we herd the ingine and went out and they 
 was the Torrent and the fountain and lots of men, 
 and they said where in hel is the fire and nobody 
 knowed where it was. and then Chick Randall he 
 asked Flunk what he was ringing the bell for and 
 Flunk he said he found me and Beany ringing it. 
 then they asked us what we was ringing it for and 
 we said we was ringing it for Mister Watson 
 134 
 
" S e o u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 Beanys father, because he was going to ring it for 
 Mister Johnson, and he had to go to Portsmuth 
 and so he told Beany to ring it, and then old 
 Brown he said us was fools and asked us if we 
 dident know enuf to tell time and he said it was 
 only 20 minits past 1 2 oh clock when the bell be- 
 gun to ring, and some of the peeple was mad and 
 said we had aught to be arested, and then we said 
 that Noot Crummet told us it was 1 oh clock and 
 then sum of them begun to laff and said it was a 
 good one. Ennyway me and Beany run home as 
 quick as we cood and the peeple went of two. well 
 tonite father said if he had got into so many 
 scrapes when he was a boy as me and Beany did 
 he wood have been in jale. and Aunt Sarah laffed 
 and said she gessed she cood tell a few things if 
 she wanted to and father he said he cood two but 
 he gessed he woodent. Ennyway he said Gim Mel- 
 cher and Charles Talor led him into a good many 
 scrapes and Aunt Sarah she said she gessed me 
 
 135 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 and Beany and Pewt want a sercumstance to 
 father and Gim Melcher and Charles Talor. 
 
 June 28. brite and fair, it is most fourth of 
 July again, they is going to be a band concert on 
 the square, i shant have as mutch money as last 
 year, ennyway i bet i will have a good time, i 
 went in swiming 4 times today, i coodent go in 
 while my arm was sore. Annie is most well but 
 cross as time. 
 
 June 29. brite and fair, i went in swiming 5 
 times today, tomorow me and Pewt is going pik- 
 erilling. Pewt is a good feller to fish, fourth of 
 July is coming next week. 
 
 June 30. today me and Pewt went fishing. We 
 got Charles Flanders little blew bote, it is the 
 esiest bote to row i ever rowd. Pewt cougt 4 pik- 
 eril and 5 kivies and 3 pirch. i cougt 2 pikeril 
 and 2 kivies and 4 pirch and 1 sucker, we cougt 
 sum minnies and shiners for bate but we dident 
 call them ennything. we div of the bank at the 
 136 
 
" S e q u i 1 n 
 
 eddy, once Pewt sliped and come down all guts, 
 it nocked the wind all out of him. 
 
 July 1 . brite and fair, today is the first day of 
 July, and we had my fish fride for brekfast. 
 
 July 2. brite and fair, i bougt 5 bunches of 
 snapcrackers and 2 bunches of canon crackers and 
 sum slow mach and put them in a box in my room, 
 tomorow is the nite before fourth. Pewt is going 
 to have a pistol and Beany a canon, father he 
 says if he hears of me fooling with a gun he will 
 lick me and send me to bed for a week, ennyway 
 he dident say ennything about a pistol or a canon. 
 
 July 3. gosh i was scart today, this morning i 
 went up to my room to look at my snap crackers. 
 i got the box on the floor and was counting them 
 when i looked out of the window, i saw old Miss 
 Hartnett hanging out sum close on the line, i 
 thougt i cood make her gump and i wanted to try 
 jest one canon cracker to see if they was good 
 ones, well i lit one and pluged it down behind 
 
 137 
 
nil" 
 
 her, and jest as she was reeching up with her 
 mouth full of close pins it went of bang, and she 
 hollered love of God and went rite over back- 
 wards, i thougt i shood die and jest then one 
 went of bang rite in the room and then they all 
 begun to go of bang bang bang and i grabed the 
 box up and pluged it out of the window and mother 
 came up jest hipering and the room was full of 
 smoke and i was stamping out the burning paper, 
 well when i got it out she was prety mad with 
 me and made me clean the room and wash the 
 floor and windows, ferst i went out and picked 
 up my snapcrackers., they were all rite but all the 
 canon crackers but 2 had went of. Mother she 
 asked me how they got afire and i said i was fool- 
 ing with them and they got on fire and i had to 
 plug them out of the window, then she said that 
 was what fritened Miss Hartnett so and i said 
 was she fritened and she said she was so fritened 
 that she fell over backwards and i said is that so. 
 138 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 mother dont know i did it on purpose whitch is 
 prety good luck for me, so she only made me 
 keep my snapcrackers in the yard, so i put them 
 in a hole in the apple tree, gosh, you aught to 
 hear Miss Hartnett tell about it. 
 
 July 1, 186— brite and fair, i have been in 
 bed 3 days, on the fourth i got bloan up with 
 Pewts canon, i had fired all my snapcrackers but 
 2 bunches whitch i had saved for nite, so me and 
 Pewt we was fixing the canon, ferst we wood put 
 in sum powder and then we wood put in sum wet 
 paper for a wod and then we wood put in sum 
 grass and then put in the ramrod and pound it 
 down with a rock, then we wood put a fuze of a 
 snap cracker in the tuch hole and lite it and put 
 for the other side of the street and it wood make 
 an auful bang and tern 2 or 3 sumersets. Well we 
 had lots of fun and bimeby i was poaring out sum 
 powder out of the powder horn and all of a suddin 
 they was a flash of litening and the next i knew i 
 
 139 
 
"Sean 
 
 ** 
 
 was in bed and father and mother and Cele and 
 Keene and docter Perry and aunt Sarah and aunt 
 Clark and Georgie was in the room, and i said 
 what is the matter and mother began to laff and 
 then to cry and Docter Perry he said you had bet- 
 ter take her out and let her lie down, but mother 
 she said she wood be all rite and docter he said 
 you needent wurry Missis Shute, you coodent kill 
 this boy with brik. well my eyes smarted and i 
 felt like the room was spinning round but it did- 
 ent hurt enny. well that nite i coodent go to the 
 band concert but they pushed my bed up to the 
 window and i cood hear it prety good, the next 
 day i had sum buly gelly and oranges and Cele 
 and Keene read to me and in the afternoon Beany 
 came in to see me. Beany he burnt his hand on 
 the fourth and Pewt he burnt of one eyebrow and 
 so we all had a prety good fourth. Yesterday 
 Boog and Puzzy came down and fit for me until 
 mother came up. i am all rite now and tomorow 
 140 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 i can go in swiming. it was the babys berthday 
 today, he was just 1 year old. he is a auful fat 
 little baby, when i was sick mother wood let him 
 sit on the bed. 
 
 July 8. brite and fair, i went in swimming to- 
 day, the water was jest as warm as if it came out 
 of the kittle, next monday i am going bull frog- 
 ing with Cawcaw Harding. 
 
 July 9. brite and fair, nothing today but 
 church. 
 
 July 10. me and Cawcaw had a prety good 
 time today, we cougt 3 dozen bull frogs legs, we 
 got sum old busters, it is auful funny to catch 
 them, they will bite a bare hook, so we swing the 
 hook by them and they gump for it and then they 
 kick and almost tern rong side out trying to get 
 of of the hook, then we grab them by the legs 
 and whak their heads over the side of the bote 
 and their inside comes out and sumtimes lots of 
 hard water snales comes ratling out and sum- 
 
 141 
 
S e o n i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 times they has fishes and sumtimes other bull 
 frogs or stripers, then we cut of there legs, me 
 and Cawcaw always kill them ferst. sum fellers 
 cut of there legs ferst, that is prety cruil i think. 
 Cawcaw he thinks so two. 
 
 July 11. brite and fair, today i went in swim- 
 ing up to sandy bottum. Whack and Boog and 
 Puzzy were there and got to pluging green ap- 
 ples. Whack got behind a tree and jest as he 
 peeked out Boog pluged a hard one and took 
 Whack rite in the mouth, then Whack got mad 
 and said he cood lick Boog and Puzzy together, 
 so Boog and Puzzy piched in and had a good fite 
 and punched time out of Whack. While i was 
 waching them fite, sumbody tide gnots in my 
 shert sleavs so tite that i coodent get them out 
 so i had to go home without my shert on. it was 
 prety lucky i had my jaket on. 
 
 July 12. Today i went up to Whacks and we 
 et sum green currents with shugar on them and 
 142 
 
" S e 4 u i 1 " 
 
 then et sum green apples and then we went in 
 swimming down to sandy bottum. i dont feel 
 very well tonite, i have got a bely ake. 
 
 July 13. i have been sick all day, mother made 
 me take a big spoon full of caster oil. 
 
 July 14. i am beter today, it raned all day 
 and tonite they was a thunder shower, it struck a 
 tree in Gilman field. 
 
 July 15. i went up to Whacks agen today, i 
 dident eat enny green apples or green currents 
 you bet. Whack and Boog and Puzzy did and 
 they give little Willie sum. they never have the 
 bely ake. i never see such fellers. 
 
 July 16. i have got a velosipede, it ways 90 
 pounds, i have got so i can ride it down hill, 
 last nite i was riding it up by Gim Odlins and it 
 ran rite into a tree and i came of rite over it and 
 scrached my hands and nocked the skin of my 
 gnees. today was Sunday and i coodent ride it 
 but i set on it. 
 
 143 
 
" S e q u i 1 »' 
 
 July 17. Hot as time today. Docter Gerrish 
 and Docter Perry and J. Albert Clark have all got 
 buly velossipedes, they have spring backs but 
 mine is solid iron back and when i go over a 
 bump or a stone it most ratles my teeth out. 
 Beany he can ride two, but Pewt cant. 
 
 July 18. feerful hot. 
 
 July 19, 186— we fellers is going to have a 
 swiming mach. they is going to be prises for the 
 feller whitch can dive the best and for the feller 
 whitch can swim the fastest and for the feller 
 whitch can swim the furtherest under water and 
 for the feller whitch can note the best without 
 wigling his arms and legs, i bet i will beat sum 
 of the fellers, most of the fellers can beat me 
 rassling or nocking of hats or running or gumping 
 but i bet i will show them sumthing when we 
 come to race in swiming. i practised today diving 
 until my head aked feerful. 
 
 July 20. the race is to be next Wensday. 
 144 
 
" S e q n i I " 
 
 They is Pewt and Beany and Fatty Gilman and 
 Fatty Melcher. Boog and Whack and Puzzy was 
 going to race but they wanted to have it at sandy 
 bottum and we fellers wanted to have the diving 
 mach at the oak and the swiming under water at 
 the gravil becaus it is wider there, and so they 
 was mad and woodent come in. Ennyway sandy 
 bottum isent wide enuf and you cant tell whether 
 a feller is swiming one foot on bottum. today i 
 went in 7 times, ferst i practised swiming fast 
 bullfrog fashion, next i practised side stroak 
 next i practised swiming under water, i swum 5 
 times acros at the gravil. then i practised flote- 
 ing, but i cant flote without keeping my hands 
 moving, ferst my feet sink and when i get 
 straight up and down my head goes under, then 
 i div until my head aked like time agen. i feel 
 prety tired tonite. 
 
 July 21. rany as time, i only went in swiming 
 2 times today and i dident dive enny. i only 
 
 145 
 
" S e o u i I 
 
 99 
 
 practised swiming fast and floteing. i coodent 
 note, in every boys book of sports and amuze- 
 ments it says throw yourself on your back and 
 throw your head back and hold your breth and 
 you will not drownd until asistance reeches you. 
 so i tride it today but i coodent hold my breth 
 more than 1 minit and as soon as i let out my 
 breth down i went unless i kep my hands moving, 
 so what the man whitch rote that book said aint 
 so unless asistance comes in 1 minit. 
 
 July 22. brite and fair and hot as time. Pewt 
 thir.ks he is going to beat me swiming. i gess he 
 will find out. 
 
 July 23. today was Sunday and i coodent prac- 
 tise swiming or diving, darn it. 
 
 July 24. brite and fair, i only went in swim- 
 ing 2 times today, once this morning and once 
 this afternoon, but i staid in all the morning and 
 all the afternoon so i coodent go in more then 2 
 times, the race is day after tomorow. 
 146 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 July 25. brite and fair, today we went up to 
 Pewts and we aranged about the prises. Pewt 
 was to give the prises, the prise for swiming fast 
 was a bag of erly apples from Pewts garden, the 
 prise for swiming under water was a gewsharp 
 and the prise for the best diver was a cain fishing 
 pole and the prise for floteing was a arrow rifle, 
 we all give 5 cents eech to buy the cain pole, 
 the gewsharp was one whitch Pewt had and the 
 arrow rifle Pewt had made. So Pewt he said as 
 long as he give 2 of the prises he was to have the 
 say about whitch beat. 
 
 July 26. brite and fair, the fellers plaid a 
 meen trick on me today, the meenist i ever see. 
 i wont ever speak to enny of them agen. this 
 morning we had the race, ferst we had the fast 
 race, we started at the oak and swum down to 
 the gravil. i was as far as from here to Beanys 
 house ahead, so i got the apples. Fatty Melcher 
 was next and Pewt was next and Beany and 
 
 147 
 
" S e q n 1 1 " 
 
 Fatty Gilman got tired and went ashore, next we 
 had the floteing mach. Fatty Gilman noted the 
 longest and then Beany becaus he was fat two 
 and then Pewt and then Fatty Melcher and then 
 me. i was the wirst and the fellers all howled at 
 me. so Fatty Gilman he got the arrow rifle, 
 i dont cair. then we went back to the oak to 
 have the diving mach. after we had div Beany 
 and Fatty Melcher they said i div the best and 
 Pewt and Fatty Gilman said Pewt div the best, 
 then Pewt giv himself the prise becaus he had the 
 say. i was prety mad. then we went down to 
 the gravil to have the swiming under water mach 
 so i went ferst and i swum from the going in 
 place on Moltons field to the elm tree on old Nat 
 Gilmans side and when i come up and looked 
 round they wasent enny feller ennywhere. so i 
 swum back prety lively and my close was gone 
 and the apples and the gewsharp and the fellers 
 two. so i dident know what to do. i thougt 
 148 
 
**■ 8 e n u f 1 '* 
 
 they had hid the close and i hunted in the 
 buches but i dident find them, so i wated a long 
 time and bimeby i heard sum oars and i looked 
 and i saw a bote with a feller and 2 girls, so i 
 coodent holler and i hid behind a tree, so they 
 went by and then i come out and i walked back 
 to the oak and when i got there i found sum 
 girls picking dasies and i lay down behind the 
 fence and just then a hornet stung me 2 times 
 and i yelled and gumped rite up and danced 
 round before i thougt and then i see them and i 
 hipered back to the gravil, they hipered two the 
 other way you bet. well i set there in the shade 
 for a long time until i got kind of cold and then i 
 set in the sun. i thougt sum of the fellers wood 
 come in swiming, but nobody come, i knowed if 
 i wated til dark i cood get home all rite, only i 
 wood get a licking for scaring the folks most to 
 deth for they wood think i was drownded. well 
 jest then i heard sum fellers talking up by the 
 
 149 
 
" S e a u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 oak and i went up and there was Potter Goram 
 and Chick Chickering. they had been fishing and 
 had cougt sum buly pikeril. well i holered to 
 them and they come down where i was and i 
 told them about the meen trick the fellers had 
 plaid on me and Potter he said he wood go home 
 for sum close and he give me his jaket and then 
 he hipered acros the field and me and Chick be- 
 gan to fish and i cougt a pirch and a eal and 
 Chick he cougt 2 roach, then Potter he come 
 back with my best close and so i coodent fish 
 enny more, so i went home in my best close, 
 when i went by Pewts he holered Plupy has got 
 on his best close, i dident say ennything. so 
 when i got home mother asked me about it and i 
 told her, it want telltaily eether. so mother she 
 told me to go up to Pewts for my close and i said 
 if Pewt took them he cood bring them back and 
 Beany and Fatty two. so at super father he 
 asked me why i had got on my best close and i 
 150 
 
" S e q n i 1 •• 
 
 told him and he said if Pewt dident bring those 
 close back in about 5 minits he wood go up and 
 boot him down to our house and back agen and 
 jest then Mister Purington came into the yard 
 holding Pewt by the ear. Pewt he had the close 
 and Mister Purington he nocked at the door and 
 he asked for me and when i come to the door he 
 made Pewt give me the close and then he told 
 Pewt to tell me he was sorry for what he had 
 done and Pewt he dident want to say it but 
 Mister Purington most lifted Pewt of the ground 
 by the ear and then Pewt he said he was sorry 
 kind of mad like and Mister Purington lifted him 
 up agen til Pewt he stood on his tip toes and his 
 face was all onesided and his eyes all squinty and 
 then he had to say it over agen polite, and then 
 Mister Purington he led Pewt home all the way 
 by the ear. i thougt i shood die. it sirved Pewt 
 jest rite, father lafFed when i told him how the 
 hornet stung me and how the girls hipered. 
 
 151 
 
" S e «i u 
 
 ** 
 
 July 27. brite and fair. Pewt cant go out of 
 the yard today, i dident speak to Beany. 
 
 July 28. brite and fair, i am going with Pot- 
 ter and Chick Chickering instead of Pewt and 
 Beany, we went butterflying today. 
 
 July 29. brite and fair, nothing to wright 
 today. 
 
 July 30. thunder storm rite after church, i 
 wish it had been rite before. 
 
 July 31. tonite a man come down to see father 
 and said i had gumped up behind a fence without 
 my close on and scart his girls, he was stoping 
 at the beach and they come up to Mager Blakes 
 hotel, well father called me in and i told the 
 man all about it and bimeby he begun to lafF and 
 he said it was a prety meen trick on me and he 
 shook hands with me and he was glad i dident do 
 it a purpose only he was sorry i got stung. 
 
 Aug. 1. me and Potter and Chick went fish- 
 ing. Chick fell of little river brige with his 
 152 
 
tt 
 
 S e a n i 1 " 
 
 close on. Potter caugt a whacking snaping tirtle. 
 he gave it to Sam Dire and he cut his head of 
 after it was cut of it wood bite a stick. Sam says 
 it wont die til the sun goes down, he says that if 
 you cut a snake in 2 peaces it will come together 
 agen and heel up and be as good as ever, me and 
 Potter is going to try it. 
 
 Aug. 2. big thunder shower last nite. we all 
 got up and lit lamps and set round in our nite 
 sherts. we lit all the lamps we cood find so we 
 coodent see the litening. father kept telling 
 funny stories, but mother and Aunt Sarah was 
 scart and told him he hadent aught to joke when 
 enny minit he mite be struck by litening. father 
 he said he dident beleave the litening wood 
 strike him enny quicker for not being scart of it 
 then it wood if he gumped and holered o lord 
 every time it litened. well after a while it only 
 litened way of and we went to bed. 
 
 153 
 
*• S e q n i 1 " 
 
 Aug. 3. i havent spoke to Beany yet or to 
 Pewt eether. 
 
 Aug. 4. this morning it was Friday, we have 
 fish chowder Fridays, i dont like it and so i drink 
 milk and father wanted the milkman to go down 
 celler to try some of his vinegar, mother hangs 
 the wash boiler and the tin pans and iron kittles 
 in the celler way and when ennyone whitch is tall 
 goes down celler he has to stupe down so not to 
 nock down the pans and kittles, so father he was 
 down celler and he holered for the milkman to 
 come down and when he went down he hit his 
 head aginst the boiler and nocked it down and all 
 the kittles and pans tumbled down on his head 
 and went banging down into the celler and you 
 never heard such a feerful noise, father was mad 
 as time, but after the milkman was gone we all 
 laffed as if we wood die. mother and Aunt Sarah 
 had to set down they laffed so. mother said it 
 made more noise then the thunder did last nite. 
 154 
 
" S e q 11 i I V 
 
 Aug. 5. me and Cawcaw Harding has got a 
 new way of fishing for pikeril when we are in a 
 bote, one of us padles the bote and the other 
 skips for pikeril. when you try to pull a pikeril 
 into a bote most half of the time he goes over the 
 bote into the water, so when me and Cawcaw 
 fishes when the feller which is skiping gets a bite 
 he lets him have it a minit and the feller whitch 
 is padling the bote padles towards the shore and 
 then the feller whitch is skiping gumps rite out 
 as soon as the water aint over his head and gives 
 a big yank, and the pikeril goes saling into the 
 field, sumtimes when it is woods the line gets 
 tangled all up in a tree and we have to shin up 
 the tree or cut it down to get the pikeril. we get 
 prety wet but we dont cair. we always ring out 
 our close when we get done fishing and they is 
 most dry when we get home, today the bigest 
 pikeril we caugt got up in a tree and we coodent 
 shin up the tree and we coodent plug him down 
 
 155 
 
" 8 e a u i 1 
 
 ** 
 
 with rocks so we had to leeve him there, we got 
 12 pikeril. we are going monday. 
 
 Aug. 6. brite and fair, today after Sunday 
 school Beany he came over and we made up. this 
 was the longest time i ever was mad with Beany, 
 i am glad we aint mad enny more, father let me 
 go to ride with Mister Watson and Beany this 
 afternoon, we went down to the beach and took 
 our lunchun. when we was coming home me and 
 Beany got most asleep and our legs got asleep 
 two, so Mister Watson he told us to get out and 
 walk a little and we wood be all rite and when 
 we got out he whiped up his horse and drove of 
 lively and made me and Beany walk most a mile, 
 we kep awake after that you bet. i had a good 
 time. 
 
 Aug. 7, 1 86— clowdy but no rane. me and 
 
 Cawcaw went fishing agen today in the bote ferst 
 
 i padled and he skiped and then he padeled and i 
 
 skiped. when we got up by the cove i got a bite 
 
 156 
 
" S e o u i I 
 
 99 
 
 and Cawcaw he padled the bote towards the 
 shore and i gumped out lively and gumped into a 
 deep place and went down way under, when i 
 came up Cawcaw was nearly ded he laffed so. 
 well i held onto my pole and swum to the shore 
 it was only 3 stroaks and i sloshed up the bank 
 and yanked that pikeril way into the buches. he 
 was a big one. Cawcaw did it purpose, sumtime 
 i am going to rock the bote sudding when Caw- 
 caw is standing up skiping and he will go into 
 the river kerswash. 
 
 Aug. 8. hot as time, me and Beany rung 
 sum more doorbells tonite. we dident get cougt. 
 
 Aug. 9. brite and fair. Potter Goram can stuf 
 birds, so they look jest like they was alive, he 
 stufed a red winged blackbird so good that the 
 cat et it and dide. and then Potter he skun the 
 cat and stufed her. i can skin the cat on the 
 horizondle bar, that is another way. 
 
 Aug. 10. me and Beany rung sum more door- 
 
 157 
 
" S e q u 1 1 " 
 
 bells tonite. we rung old Heads doorbell and 
 then we tiptode round by the side of his house 
 into Gim Ellersons yard and laid down behind the 
 current bushes, well jest as old Head come pil- 
 ing out mad as time Pewt and Fatty Melcher 
 come rite by and old Head grabed for them and 
 Fatty he run and Pewt got cougt and old Head 
 he jest lammed Pewt with his cain and Pewt hol- 
 ered he dident do it and old Head said he did 
 and then he give Pewt sum good bats and sent 
 him home balling, me and Beany most dide only 
 we dident dass to laff out loud, jest then father 
 come out to see what Pewt was holering about 
 and he said what is the matter Orrin and Mister 
 Head he said sum cussid boy has been ringing 
 my door bell most every nite and i cougt him to- 
 nite and licked him good, and father he said 
 who was it, and Mister Head he said it was Brad 
 Puringtons boy, and father said i am glad it was- 
 ent my boy and mister Head he said i am glad 
 158 
 
" S e q u i 1 M 
 
 two but i gess your boy woodent be meen enuf to 
 ring doorbells and father he said i gess he wood- 
 ent eether and then they went in and me and 
 Beany we tiptode up Maple street and down 
 town and then back home jest as if we had been 
 down town all the time, that was a good one on 
 Pewt. it made me think of the time Mister Wat- 
 son Beanys father licked Beany when we rung his 
 doorbell and he came to the door with a lamp and 
 the wind blowed the lamp out and Mister Watson 
 he bumped his head on the door. 
 
 Aug. 11. brite and fair, i cant help laffing 
 every time i think of Pewt getting licked, it is a 
 good one on Pewt. 
 
 Aug. 12. brite and fair, tonite me and Beany 
 tride the same trick on Nipper, we saw Nip go 
 down town and we rung Bill Greenleefs bell 2 
 times before Nip come back, we hid in old Ike 
 Shutes porch and peeked out of a little window. 
 Bill he come out and run round the side of the 
 
 159 
 
" S e q u i 1 V 
 
 house and then he run up street and looked be- 
 hind trees and fences and swoar terible. me and 
 Beany near dide. he was so mad that he staid up 
 til nearly 10 oh clock waching. we cood see him 
 peeking out of the window and we dident dass to 
 go home til after 10 oh clock and i got licked for 
 being late, if Nipper had only come home when 
 he had aught to Bill wood have cougt him and 
 licked him and we wood have got home all rite. 
 we will pay Nip for this. 
 
 Aug. 13. brite and fair, nothing but church 
 today. 
 
 Aug. 14. brite and fair, i coodent go out of 
 the yard today. Beany he come over and we are 
 going to ring old man Hobbses door bell tomor- 
 ow nite. old man Hobbs is Prisils uncle. 
 
 Aug. 15. brite and fair, and hot as time, to- 
 
 nite we rung old man Hobbses door bell 2 times. 
 
 it was auful funny, the ferst time he come out 
 
 kind of slow with a lamp, me and Beany were 
 
 160 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 rite on the other side of the street laying down in 
 the long grass, well he looked all round and 
 walked out to the end of the piaza and then he 
 went in mutering. bimeby we rung it agen and 
 out he come prety lively but he dident catch us. 
 if he was as lively as Bill Greenleef he wood have 
 cougt us. well he went round the house and then 
 old Missis Hobbs she came to the door and said 
 what is it William, and he said it is some more of 
 that Purington boys deviltry, and she said i wood 
 speek to his father and old Hobbs he said he 
 wood and then they went in. jest as we was go- 
 ing to ring the bell agen a man come walking 
 quick down the street and went up to the door 
 and rung the bell and jest as the bell rung old 
 Hobbs opened the door quick and gumped out 
 and grabed the man and said you rascul i have 
 got you and the man said you old fool are you 
 crasy and then old Hobbs he said i thougt it was 
 that Purinton boy ringing my door bell and then 
 
 161 
 
** S e q n i 1 " 
 
 the man went in the house and we wated til they 
 had shet the door and we put for home and made 
 sum sweet firn segars. tomorow old Hobbs is go- 
 ing to tell Pewts father, i never had so much fun 
 in my life. 
 
 Aug. 16. brite and fair, today Pewt come 
 down to the house and said where was you last 
 nite and i said me and Beany was making sweet 
 firn segars over to Beanys and i gave him 2 se- 
 gars. then Pewt he said that old Hobbs come 
 down to his house today and told his father he 
 rung his doorbell 2 times and Pewt said he did- 
 ent and his father said he dident beleeve him and 
 was going to lick time out of him if he had and 
 he did it. Pewt was prety mad and i was prety 
 surprized you bet. this afternoon they was a thun- 
 der storm, after it was over we went fishing but 
 dident get a bite. 
 
 Aug. 17. brite and fair, went up to Whacks 
 this morning and Boog and Puzzy had 2 fites. 
 162 
 
" S e q 11 i I " 
 
 neether licked becaus old miss Finton come out 
 and stoped them. Boog got a bludy nose the sec- 
 ond fite. in the afternoon i went fishing with 
 Cawcaw. i dident get a chance to tip him over 
 but we cougt 5 pikeril. tomorow nite me and 
 Beany are going to ring sum doorbells. 
 
 Aug. 18. clowdy but no rane. jest the rite 
 day to go fishing, i was going with Cawcaw but 
 he was sick becaus he et to many apples up to 
 Whacks, tonite Beany coodent go out of the yard 
 becaus he dident split sum kindlings so we did- 
 ent ring enny doorbells, it was a prety meen day. 
 all the fun i had was going in swiming. 
 
 Aug. 19- prety hot today, i went in swiming 
 5 times, sumthing is the matter with my eyes i 
 keep winking them all the time, father keeps 
 saying stop batting your eyes, i gess it is becaus 
 i keep opening my eyes under water to see things 
 on bottum. father says if i dont stop it i shant go 
 in swiming enny more. 
 
 163 
 
•* S e q n i 1 *♦ 
 
 Aug. 20. it raned this morning so hard that i 
 dident have to go to church, buly. 
 
 Aug. 2h brite and fair, tonite me and Beany 
 rung old Missis Sawyers bell, when she come out 
 with the lamp we run into Pewts yard and then 
 into Nat Weeks, she went in and come out agen 
 with a shorl on and went rite over to mister Pur- 
 intons and nocked at the door, we was near 
 enuf to hear evrything. when Pewts father come 
 to the door she said i think things has come to a 
 prety pass if peeple cant keep there boy from 
 trubling there nabors. and then Mr. Purinton 
 Pewts father said what is the matter and Missis 
 Sawyer she said your boy has been ringing my 
 doorbell and Pewts father he said how do you 
 know he did it and Missis Sawyer she said i see 
 him run rite into your yard, and so Pewts father 
 he come out and went round the yard but cood- 
 ent find ennybody. so he said praps it was the 
 Watson boy or the Shute boy and she said praps 
 164 
 
" S e <i n i 1 " 
 
 it was becaus she had heard they was prety bad 
 boys, then Pewts father said it was a mersy if 
 they dident both get into jale and she said she 
 gessed the Shute boy was a trial to his father and 
 mother and Pewts father he said he gessed the 
 Watson boy was two. then he said if he was 
 her he wood go rite down and see there fathers, 
 when me and Beany heard that we clim over Nat 
 Weeks fence esy and put for home, when we got 
 there they was nobody in Beanys kichen and we 
 went in esy and got the sweet firn and begun to 
 make sweet firn segars. bimeby we heard old 
 Missis Sawyer blabing to Beanys mother and she 
 said she wood go in and see if Elly was in and 
 when she come in Beany said mother jest see 
 how many segars me and Plupy has made and he 
 held up a lot that we made last week and she 
 said you boys must have wirked a long time and 
 Beany he said it takes a good deal of time to make 
 so many and she went back looking prety pleased 
 
 165 
 
" S e a m i 1 
 
 9* 
 
 becaus she thougt Beany dident ring the old door- 
 bell and she told old Missis Sawyer that we had 
 been making sweet firn segars all the evening in 
 the kitchin. so old Missis Sawyer went home 
 kind of mad becaus it wasent me and Beany 
 whitch rung her doorbell ennyway she thougt it 
 wasent. 
 
 Aug. 22. brite and fair. 
 
 Aug. 23. brite and fair, tonite me and Pewt 
 and Beany and Fatty Gilman and Fatty Melcher 
 and Billy Swett and Gim Erly and lots of the fel- 
 lers come up and plaid i spy the bull, one feller 
 lays it and he shets his eyes at the gool and 
 counts fifty and the rest of the fellers go and 
 hide and when he has counted fifty he trys to find 
 the fellers and tag his gool before they do. they 
 is a stick leening agenst the gool and if one of 
 the fellers can get to the gool ferst he can plug 
 the stick as far as he can and the feller whitch is 
 laying it has to run and get the stick and go 
 166 
 
" S e q n i 1 •» 
 
 back to the gool and leeve the stick there be- 
 fore he can find enny more fellers and if enny fel- 
 lers has been cougt they can hide agen. so tonite 
 we plaid it til nine oh clock and i had laid it 
 most an hour when Pewt pluged the stick and hit 
 old Bill Morril rite in the head jest as he came 
 round the corner and he was mad as time and we 
 put for home jest lively. Pewt dident meen to do 
 it. Bill hadent aught to have been coming round 
 the corner jest then enny way. Bill told father 
 they was the tufest set of boys in the naborhood 
 he ever see. i was behind the current buches 
 when Bill told father this and he showed father 
 his old plug hat whitch was all dented in. father 
 he said well Bill we usted to make things prety 
 lively when we was boys, then he told Bill that 
 he usted to ask his father if he cood go over and 
 sleep with Gim Melcher and his father wood say 
 yes, and Gim Melcher he wood ask his father if 
 he cood go over and sleep with father and Gims 
 
 167 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 father wood say yes, and they wood stay out all 
 nite and raise time, and Gims father he wood 
 think Gim was over to fathers house, and fathers 
 father wood think father was over to Gims house 
 and so they woodent get cougt. that wood be a 
 prety good trick for me and Beany to try only 
 father wood know two mutch, i gess that is the 
 reason father finds out so mutch about me becaus 
 he was prety tuf when he was a boy. i gess that 
 is the reson why ministers boys is most always tuf 
 becaus there fathers dont know how to find out 
 what tuf things they do. i wish i was a ministers 
 son so i cood be tuf and not get found out, only i 
 wood have to go to church 3 times evry Sunday. 
 Aug. 25. brite and fair, i wish i was ded. a fel- 
 ler might as well be ded as to be getting licked 
 all time for nuthing. tonite me and Beany wated 
 till it was dark and we saw Bill Greenlef go down 
 town, then we tide a string to his doorbell and 
 hiched the other end to old printer Smiths door 
 168 
 
" S e q n i I " 
 
 on the other side of the street and hauled it tite. 
 bimeby Bill he come back and went in the side 
 door, then a man came by driving a horse and 
 when the horse run agenst the string both door- 
 bells rung before the string broak and out come 
 Bill and old printer Smith, when they found they 
 wasent ennyone there they was prety mad. Bill 
 he run round looking behind fences and trees and 
 old printer he swoar terible and went through 
 Miss Sulivans and over to Nipper Browns and all 
 round, me and Beany was hiding in Ike Shutes 
 porch, bimeby they come back and talked. Bill 
 said they must be 2 of them and old printer he 
 said it was about time this thing was stoped and 
 he was going to find out who did it if it took 
 him all summer, well bimeby they went in to 
 wate and see if ennyone rung there doorbells sum 
 more. Bill he said he wood leeve his door open 
 jest a little and old printer Smith he said he wood 
 leeve his open jest a little two so he cood gump 
 
 169 
 
" S e a u i 1 " 
 
 out and lam time out of the feller whitch rung 
 his bell, well bimeby me and Beany crep out esy 
 and hunted round til we found the string and we 
 tide it agen as tite as we cood and then we crep 
 back into the porch and peeked through the win- 
 dow, bimeby old mister Lyford come up the side- 
 walk and when he come to the string it gerked 
 his old plug hat of and he picked it up and 
 brushed it and then went of. bimeby a hack 
 came by and when it hit the string both door 
 bells gingled feerful and Bill and old printer 
 Smith came hipering out as if they was hiched to 
 the string. Bill went to gump of the side of the 
 steps and he got the string round his leg and 
 went nuking and then holered to old printer 
 Smith that they was a string tide to his door bell 
 and printer he holered back that they was one 
 tide to his two. then they swoar and talked sum 
 and jest then Pewts father come out and they 
 said it was Pewt and old Missis Sawyer she come 
 170 
 
nil 
 
 99 
 
 out and she said it was Pewt two. well then they 
 begun to hunt and look behind trees and into 
 doorways and me and Beany got prety scart and 
 bimeby we opened the door esy and hipered 
 round Ikes house and ran rite into old printer 
 and he grabed us both by the neck and holered 
 i have got the misable cusses and he draged us 
 out to the lite and Bill and Brad said it is George 
 Shutes boy and Irv Watsons boy and they shook 
 us up lively, well old Missis Sawyer wanted them 
 to take us to jale but Pewts father and Bill and 
 printer said to take us down to our fathers and so 
 printer held us by the neck and marched us down 
 the street and Pewts father and Bill come along 
 two and old Missis Sawyer she came taging along 
 talking all the time that we was the wirst boys in 
 town, we went down to fathers ferst and he come 
 out and Bill he went over and called mister Wat- 
 son, well he come over and they all went into the 
 back yard and they told father about it and 
 
 171 
 
" S e q u i I •• 
 
 Missis Sawyer said she was going to have us 
 arested and father he said if she wanted to arest 
 me all rite but he wood get a lawyer and carry the 
 case to the circus coart if it took evry cent he had 
 and Mister Watson he said so two. and father 
 he said he woodent have his boy distirbing his 
 nabors and he wood lick me and make me beg 
 evrybodys pardon, but it wasent merder or hyway 
 robery to ring doorbells and if they wanted to 
 arest me to sale rite in, and Mister Watson he 
 said so two. then father and Mister Watson 
 marched us up to old Hobbs and made us beg 
 his pardon and old Hobbs told father we was the 
 wirst boys in town and father aught to whale 
 the life out of us, and then we went down to 
 Pewts and had to beg his pardon for getting him 
 a licking and then we went over to mister Heads 
 and begged his pardon two. then father took me 
 into the kichin and give me a licking for eech 
 doorbell that we rung, he give me a good one for 
 172 
 
" S e <| u i I " 
 
 Missis Sawyer becaus she was a woman and he 
 said we dident have enny bizness to plage a 
 woman, and he give me a prety good one for Bill 
 becaus Bill was a prety good feller, and he only 
 hit me one lick for old Hobbs becaus he was 
 mad at what old Hobbs said and he dident hit 
 me a lick for mister Head becaus Pewt got licked 
 for it and he said Pewt had aught to have been 
 licked so many times when he dident that one 
 licking one way or the other woodent make much 
 diference. the wirst was when i had to beg Pewts 
 pardon, i wood rather get 2 lickings. 
 
 Aug. 26, 186- Brite and fair, tonite i asked 
 father about him and Gim Melcher staying out 
 all nite and he laffed and said it was trew. then 
 i asked him how menny times he did it and he 
 said all the times he wanted to becaus his father 
 thougt he was a beter boy then he was. well i 
 asked him if i cood stay out all nite sum time and 
 he said no. then he said i woodent dass to and i 
 
 173 
 
" S e o n i 1 " 
 
 said i bet i wood, then he said i cood if i wanted 
 to and then mother she said George are you crasy 
 and he said no but he gessed after i had been out 
 a while i wood be homesick, so after super i 
 asked Beany and Beany he asked his father and 
 he told his father what father said and bimeby 
 Mister Watson Beanys father he said Beany cood 
 stay out if i cood. so we are going to stay out 
 Monday nite. 
 
 Aug. 27. brite and fair, nothing but church. 
 
 Aug. 28. rany as time, jest the luck, i cood- 
 ent sleep enny last nite thinking about staying 
 out all nite. ennyway i dident go to sleep til 
 most morning and when i woke up it was raning 
 hard, and it raned hard all day. it has stoped 
 now. they wasent enny fun today. 
 
 Aug. 29. brite and fair, i am wrighting this 
 
 in the morning becaus i shall be to bizzy tonite 
 
 to wright ennything. i bet me and Beany will 
 
 have sum fun. last nite father said they was a 
 
 174 
 
" S e o u i I 
 
 99 
 
 tiger got out of a circus and he kind of thougt it 
 was somewhere in the Eddy woods, i aint afrade. 
 Beany aint neether. 
 
 Aug. 30. brite and fair, i gess i wont try to 
 stay out all nite agen. it aint enny fun. yester- 
 day afternoon mother made me go to bed so i 
 woodent be sleepy at nite and Beanys mother she 
 did two. i coodent sleep and bimeby i got up 
 and stuck my head out of the window and looked 
 over to Beanys house and Beany he was looking 
 out of his window and bimeby Potter and Caw- 
 caw went by with their fish poles and you bet i 
 wanted to go two, but i had to stay in my room, 
 so Beany and i begun to holler acrost to each 
 other and i made up this poitry about Beany, 
 
 fat pork and beens 
 
 thats what it meens 
 
 that Beanys got the belyake 
 
 from fat pork and beens. 
 
 175 
 
" S e « u i 1 »• 
 
 and then Beany he made up this poitry about me, 
 
 Plupy Shute is meener than Pewt 
 and he is a prety meen galoot. 
 
 then mother made me go in a room on the other 
 side of the house, but i coodent sleep and she let 
 me get up at super time, when father come 
 home he said the tiger had carrid of and et up a 
 bull over to Kingston and he gessed he was com- 
 ing this way, but i wasent scart. well after super 
 i split my kindlings and me and Beany went 
 down town, we went to doctor Derborns store 
 and got sum soda water and Beany he paid for it. 
 then we got sum goozeberries of old Si Smiths 
 and i paid for them and then we went over to 
 Beanys and got a lot of sweet firn segars and 
 then we went down town agen. we went into 
 stores and looked at things and we went down to 
 the warf and then we went acrost to the raceway 
 and went in swiming. it was kind of cold and we 
 176 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 dident stay in very long, then it began to be 
 dark and we went back to water street and staid 
 in the stores til the nine oh clock bell rung and 
 then we went back home, the folks was all set- 
 ting on the front steps, so me and Beany set 
 down two and bimeby the folks said they must 
 go in and they all went in and shet the door, it 
 made me feel lonesum when i herd them lock 
 the door, it must be prety tuf on fellers whitch 
 havent got enny home, then me and Beany went 
 over to his house and set on the steps til his folks 
 went in and shet the door and then we set on 
 the fence under the gas lite and we herd Nat 
 Weeks come home and mister Gewell and bimeby 
 Si Smith shet up his store and then it begun to 
 be loansum. so we went down as fer as the 
 swamscot house and they was a lite in sum of the 
 rooms and we set down on old Kellogs steps and 
 talked, bimeby old Straton the gas man come 
 round with a little ladder and clim up and put out 
 
 177 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 the gas and then it was prety dark, then Beany 
 he said less go up to Pewts and yowl like cats, 
 so we went up into Pewts garden and we begun 
 to yowl feerful like cats and bimeby Pewts father 
 opened a window and holered scat you devils and 
 jest then Nat Weeks he stuck his head out and 
 he holered scat two. and then we kep still a 
 minit and Pewts father said i wish there wasent a 
 cussid cat alive and Nat Weeks he said so two 
 and then they went to bed agen. bimeby we be- 
 gun to yowl agen and then we yowled jest like 
 cats fiting and Pewts father opened the window 
 agen and pluged a club out into the yard and 
 holered scat and then we kep still and we herd 
 him tell Nat Weeks that he had got his gun 
 loded and if he herd it go of he needent be sir- 
 prized, so you bet we dident yowl agen. so after 
 Pewts father and Nat Weeks had gone to bed 
 agen we clim over the fence esy and went of up 
 towards Gilmans barn. Beany stumped me to go 
 178 
 
m S e q ii i 1 " 
 
 as fer as the barn and we was going there when i 
 thougt of the tiger and told Beany about it. we 
 wasent afrade but they wasent enny fun in going 
 down to the barn so we went back down towards 
 the high school yard and it was prety dark there 
 and so we dident go down to set on the steps, 
 bimeby it struck eleven oh clock, ferst the town 
 clock and jest after it the factory bell an then we 
 cood hear clocks striking in the houses on the 
 street, i tell you it made me feel loansum. we 
 coodent see enny lites in the houses, so we set on 
 the steps and told stories and talked about the 
 fellers and the girls. Beany said he gessed he 
 wood mary Lizzie Tole, Ed Toles sister sum day. 
 i bet he wont, then Beany he said when he was 
 a man he wood by the club stable and have all 
 the horses he wanted to drive, and i cood wirk 
 for him if i dident get drunk [curiously enough, 
 the first two statements in this prophecy came 
 true] like most of the hostlers, i told him that i 
 
 179 
 
" S e q 11 i 1 " 
 
 wasent going to wirk for ennybody for i was go- 
 ing to play in the band like Bruce Brigam, Scotty 
 Brigams brother, bimeby we herd sum real cats 
 yowling and it sounded sort of feerful. Cele read 
 us a story when we was sick with the scarlet 
 fever about a man whitch had a black cat and he 
 got mad with her and cut out one eye. then he 
 got mad with his wife and cut her throte and 
 stuck her up in the chimny in the celler and 
 pluged up the hole, bimeby the polisemen come 
 to find out where his wife was and they hunted 
 evry where in the house and stable and hen koop 
 and evrywhere and bimeby they wanted to go 
 into his celler. so the man he said all rite fellers 
 come rite down and so the polisemen went down 
 celler with him and he showed them all over the 
 celler and they looked evrywhere and coodent 
 find ennything and jest as they was going out 
 they herd a feerful yowl and they stoped and lis- 
 sened and it kept on yowling in the chimny and 
 180 
 
" S e a u i 1 " 
 
 when they took a pickax and wanted to dig a 
 hole in the chimny the man whitch killed his 
 wife said they wasent ennything in the chimny 
 for it hadent been opened for 1 hundred years^ 
 but they cut open the chimny and what do you 
 gess they found, well they found his wife with 
 her throte cut and a old black cat with 1 eye out 
 setting on her showlder yowling, so they grabed 
 the man and punched time out of him and they 
 hung him to a lampost. well when Cele read 
 that story to us we all was wirse for 3 days and 
 Annie never got over it and when i hear a cat 
 yowl i think of what the polisemen found in the 
 chimny. so when i herd the cat yowling i told 
 Beany that story and Beany he dident want to go 
 of of my steps enny more, bimeby the town 
 clock struck 12 oh clock and so it was morning 
 and so we tost up to see whether Beany shood 
 wait til i got in my house or i shood go over to 
 Beanys to wait til Beany got into his house ferst 
 
 181 
 
66 
 
 S e o u i 1 " 
 
 i lost jest as i always do and so i had to go over 
 to Beanys and he tride the door and it was un- 
 locked and so Beany he went in and i hipered 
 acrost the road as quick as i cood and went in 
 the back way. i wasent afrade only i wasent go- 
 ing to have Beany beat me in geting into bed. 
 i went up stairs as esy as i cood but when i went 
 by mothers room she said is that you Harry and i 
 said yes and she said are you going out agen and 
 i said no it is morning now and i am going to bed 
 and she laffed and said good mornin. then i piled 
 into bed and dident wake up til 10 oh clock. 
 Beany dident get up til 12 oh clock, father 
 saved a mans life today in Boston, he was a old 
 man whitch tride to get on a train whitch had 
 started and father saw he was going to tumble of 
 and get killed and he run and grabed him and 
 the old man tride to pull away and holered and 
 the trane was going faster and father had to run 
 and push the old man and he grabed him by the 
 182 
 
" S e a u 
 
 99 
 
 seet of his britches and give him a hist and 
 piched him rite into the door of the car and then 
 father he gumped of. evrybody said the old man 
 wood be killed if it hadent been for father. 
 
 Aug. 31. i bet Beanys father never saved a 
 mans life, i bet Pewts never did neether. i asked 
 father if he xpected the old man to give him a 
 good deel of mony for it or a gold wach, and 
 father he said the conscenceless of having did a 
 noble act is enuf reward. Gosh if i had saved a 
 old mans life i wood have made him pay me. 
 i wood have grabed him and said old man pay me 
 2 dolars or of goes your hind legs, i realy wood- 
 ent let him drop but i wood have scart him til he 
 give me 2 dolars. father he said that wood be 
 hyway robery. i dont care. 
 
 Sept. 1. brite and fair, they was a peace in 
 the Boston paper today about father, it said 
 heroik rescu of a old man and it told about 
 father saving the old mans life, lots of peeple 
 
 183 
 
" S e q u i 1 " 
 
 spoke to father about it. father walked down 
 town tonite 3 times, he most never goes down, 
 father is going to take me to Boston tomorow if i 
 behaive myself and dont do as i did before. 
 
 Sept. 9,, 186- i had to get up feerful erly this 
 morning, after brekfast me and father rode up 
 to the depo in Joe Parmers hack, while we was 
 wating for the trane Charles Talor and Charles 
 Gray and all the fellers began to pich into father 
 jest fun like and father got the best of them evry 
 time. You cood here them holler about a mile, 
 then the trane come and we piled in. evrybody 
 knowed father and called him George and evry- 
 body piched into him and he ansered back so 
 that he made evrybody laff. that was the way it 
 was all the way to Boston, when we got to Bos- 
 ton we went into a bird store and staid a while 
 and then father took me out to see a house with 
 a canon ball in it where the british had fired it in 
 the revolution, then we went down to the cus- 
 184 
 
** S e q ii i I " 
 
 turn house where father wirks and father took of 
 his coat and put on a thin coat and put on sum 
 cuffs made of pastbord and then he took out 
 sum big books and begun to wright. he give me 
 a sheet of yellow paper and a pensil and told me 
 i cood draw sum pictures, when he come in one 
 man holered hullo George what are you going to 
 do with the boy, drownd him, and father he said 
 no but i wood if he dident amount to more then 
 you have, and then that man he shet up and a 
 nother man he holered George have you saved 
 enny more peeple and father he said no i had 
 a chanse to but his name was Mudge and i let 
 them hang him, and then that man he shet up. 
 his name was Mudge two. bimeby a man come 
 in with specks and side wiskers and sum papers 
 and a squint eye, and he come up to fathers 
 desk and father took the papers and wile he was 
 wrighting i drawd the man with his specks and 
 his old side wiskers and his squint eye. when 
 
 185 
 
" S e q n i 1 " 
 
 father had fixed his papers the man said is that 
 your boy mister Shute and he said yes and the 
 man said can he draw and father said yes and he 
 took the paper before i cood grab it and give it to 
 the man and the man looked at it and begun to 
 look mad and father said what is it and he showed 
 it to father and then tore it up and went of mad. 
 and father timed red and asked me if i dident 
 know more then that, then father he picked up 
 all the peaces and we paisted them together and 
 he showed it to the men and they all lafFed and 
 said i was a buster, bimeby a man come in and 
 said that the naval oncer wanted to see father 
 and father took the picture and went in. bimeby 
 he came back and said the naval oficer jawed him 
 and then he looked at the picture and lafFed and 
 said he wanted the picture and he took it and 
 told father he had better shet that boy up. then 
 it was dinner time and we went out and et din- 
 ner at a resterrant. i had meat and bread and 
 186 
 
" S e « u i 1 
 
 99 
 
 coffy. after dinner we went back to the offise and 
 a man come in and asked who was mister Shute 
 and father said he was and the man said are you 
 the man whitch put a old man on the trane at the 
 depo and father said yes and i thougt the man 
 wood give father a hundred dolars or a gold 
 wach and father looked as if he thougt the man 
 wood say noble man you have saved my fathers 
 life, but the man looked mad and said well sir 
 you did a prety smart thing to throw a helpless 
 old man on to the rong trane and send him of 1 00 
 miles away from home and scart all his peeple 
 most to deth becaus they thougt he was merdered 
 and cost him 3 dolars to telegraf and stay all nite 
 and if you dont know more then that you had 
 beter soke your head, father he said what was the 
 old fool trying to get on the trane for if he did- 
 ent want to go on it, and the man he said he was 
 trying to get of the trane and you woodent let 
 him and the man holered so loud that evrybody 
 
 187 
 
" S e q 11 i 1 »• 
 
 cood hear him and shook his fist and went of 
 swaring feerfal. then Mr. Pope he said o what a 
 fall was there my countrymen just like what was 
 in the fourth reader and Mr. Davis he said im- 
 mortal seezer ded and timed to clay, that is in 
 the fourth reader two. then all the men laffed 
 and said the treat is on you George and father he 
 laffed two and said he wood be cussed, and he 
 said that is what a man got by not tending to his 
 own bizness. tonites paper had a peace in it 
 about father and said the old man whitch father 
 put on the rong trane was going to be marrid and 
 his girl got mad becaus he dident come and mar- 
 rid another man whitch was there and the old 
 man was going to sew father for braking up the 
 mach. father said he bet Ben Ridwill and Jaky 
 Howe rote it for the paper and he wood fix them. 
 Sept. 3. brite and fair. Sunday today but father 
 dident go to walk, he was prety cross two. 
 Beany got sent out of Sunday school for raising 
 188 
 
" S e q 11 
 
 ^^ 
 
 time, after he went out he clim up to the win- 
 dow and made up feerful faces at us. mister Erl 
 the suprintendunt was jest going to make a 
 prayer and see us laffin and see Beany before 
 Beany cood gump down and he grabed his cane 
 and run out of the Sunday school and chased 
 Beany down to Gim Elersons. Beany cant come 
 agen. i wish i was Beany. 
 
 Sept. 4. clowdy but no rane. school begins to- 
 day, gosh. 
 
 189 
 
THE MOST DELIGHTFUL BOOK 
 
 OF HUMOR OF THIS GENERATION 
 
 In Its Ninth Edition 
 
 The Real Diary 
 of a Real Soy 
 
 By JUDGE HENRY A. SHUTE 
 
 THE REAL DIARY OF A REAL BOY is 
 a most delicious revelation of original sin 
 and equally original spelling. The author 
 shows the boy of flesh and blood, who is so unlike 
 the youth of literary tradition that the reader takes 
 him to his heart at once, although almost every 
 page of the " diry " is a record of startling and in- 
 genious mischief. Perhaps we love him for this 
 very reason. Deep down in the nature of the most 
 prim and censorious of us is a sneaking fondness for 
 just such a tousled-headed little scalawag as this 
 real boy. 
 
 " Its merriment is so infectious that one cannot 
 fancy a person able to resist the spirit of this 
 book." — N. Y. Journal. 
 
 PRICE, $1.00, POST-PAID 
 
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