Brite and Fair

by Henry A. Shute

June 4, 186—-brite and fair. i went fishing today with Potter Goram in the morning and was going again in the afternoon but i dident get home in time to help them flap flise out of the dining room and mother woodent let me go to pay me for being lait. darn it. every day we have to flap flise out of the dining room. we all grab our flapers and begin to flap from one end of the room to the other flaping them into the kitchen. then we shet the doors and keep them out. it is fun flaping for most always i can give Keene a good bat in the ear with a flaper when she aint looking. then she gives me one on the snoot and then we jest go at it til mother stops us. she maiks us take tirns now. ferst it is me and Cele and then it is Cele and Keene. it is never me and Keen any more. mother says we fite enuf without fiting when there is china and crockery and glass round and things to eat two. ennyway it is tuf on Cele to have to do it all the time becaus she is good and dont fite.

i told mother what old mister minister sed and mother she sed that if old mister minister had to fite flise for every mossel of food he et she gessed he woodent say mutch about not killing them. Aunt Sarah she sed so two. flise is wirse this summer. we have got a new set of fli screnes. little ones for the butter plates, bigger ones for the sass plates and some grate big ones for the meat plates and the cake basket. we had to get them becaus the old ones was woar out and i took the big one and kept a young robin in nearly a week and mother maid me let him go and never wood use the screne again. we tride to have muzlin screnes to the wiinders but the cat and the dog jumped through them if the doors was shet. mother says she dont know what she will do if the flise get enny wirse.

June 5, 186—-it raned last nite. brite and fair today. it raned hard and the sidewalks was filed with pudles of water. me and Beany had lots of fun spatering peeple. the way we do it is this. when we see sum peeple waulking on the sidewaulks we run by them fast and stamp hard in the pudles and the water spaters all over them. we dont do it to wimmen and girls. but we do to men and fellers. it is lots of fun to hear them sware. Beany got 2 bats in the ear and a kick and i got 3 bats in the ear and 2 kicks. so i beat Beany. one of the kicks was a peeler. ennyway we had lots of fun.

today all the fellers and girls got a letter from old mister minister and it had in it a peace of poetry like this

do you know how menny flise fli about in the warm sun how menny fishes in the water god has counted eevry one every one he called by naim when into the wirld it caime.

there was a lot moar to it but i aint got no time to wright enny moar of such stuf as that. i showed it to mother and she said when he got older peraps he wood know moar.

June 6, 186—-clowdy today. jest the day to go fishing but i had to ho in the garden. if it had raned i coodent ho the beans becaus if you ho when it is wet they will be all covered with black specks like Whacker Chadwick had when he had the measles. i have et them like that and they taist jest like those yeller spots in creem tarter bisquit when it gets way in a corner of your mouth up under your ear on the inside and you cant reech it with a drink of water. ennyway it dident rane and i had to ho whitch is jest my luck. mother let me go at 4 oh clock to go in swimming with the Chadwicks and Potter and Skinny Bruce. we had sum fun tying gnots in Skinnys shert sleev. we bet Skinny coodent swim across under water and while he was doing it we wet his shert sleves and tide hard gnots in them. Skinny coodent unty them becaus he aint got enny front teeth. most of the fellers can unty gnots eesy with their teeth but Skinny had to go home with his shert tide around his neck and his jacket buttened up tite.

the 3 cornered flise has come and bit Skinny terrible while he was trying to get into his shert. i hollered oh Skinny, do you know how meny flise fli about in the warm sun and Skinny he up and chased me as far as Gilmans barn and wood have chased me further but he hadent enny shert on. i guess if the old minister had heard Skinny sware he woodent have sed mutch more about flise.

June 7, 186—-brite and fair. not mutch today. tonite the band played in the band room. Ed Tilton has got a new basehorn. it is auful shiny and almost as long as he is. Potsy Dirgin played a fife. father says peraps i can have a fife some day but a cornet costs two much money. they played a new march and a peace that mother said was a romanse from leeclare. mother used to play it. i asked her where leeclare was and she sed it was a mans name. Cele can hear a band peace once and play it on the piano jest as good as they can. i can whistle it all rite but she can put in the alto and the treble and the base jest like it is rote.

June 8, 186—-brite and fair. not mutch today only swiming and playing base ball and a fite down town whitch old Swain and old Kize the poliseman stoped. tonite we all have to take a bath in the tub in the kichen. Mother maiks me use soft sope. the others use casteel sope but mother says soft sope is the only thing that will get me cleen. it stings terrible when it gets into a cut or a soar place. after a feler has been stang with soft sope in a cut on his hand or on his leg with a nail or a peace of glass or a tin can he dont care mutch for anything but a yeller jakit hornit. i had to lug all the water for the tub and i had to fill it with fresh water for every one of us. they aint enny sense in that. onct wood have been enuf. twict wood ennyway.