Brite and Fair

by Henry A. Shute

decon Aspinwall Congregasional Chirch Exeter New Hampshire dear sir i have been thinking over what i sed to you when i hollered to Beany about your swaring at me at the picknic last weak and i done verry rong and please to forgive me. of coarse it wasent so mutch becaus you swore so but becaus you are a decon of the chirch and speek in prair meating and so you hadent augt to have did it. but that is no xcuse for me to sass you. father sed i wasent verry mutch to blaim. he says he dont object to swaring but when a man tries to be a decon and plug ugly at the saim time it is the dam hippockrasy of it that maiks a man mad. i only tell you this to show you i was not verry mutch to blaim. but i am verry sorry i done it. you needent tell father what i sed, but i hoap you will try hard not to sware so another time when there is wimmen and girls and a minister present jest becaus a boy done what they told him to do and cougt a eal.

yours very respectively Harry Shute

i bet that decon will be glad when he gets that leter. i bet there aint many fellers whitch can write a better letter than that. i bet Beany coodent. i bet Pewt coodent eether. this is the letter i rote to old Misses Peezley.

Mrs. Sofire Peezly Exeter New Hampshire dear Misses Peezly. i am verry sorry for hollering to Beany them things about you. when you had that fit i suposed it was becaus you was mad and i was kind of mad two becaus i had been cheeted out of my fifty cents by the minister, becaus i cougt a eal after they had told me to do it. then i remembered that my father had sed once that you had them fits when you wanted sumthing and kept having them until you got what you wanted and that he pitted mister Peezly. so i dident think when i hollered to Beany and i wish you wood pleese forgive me. it is a awful thing to have fits when you cant help it. mother says that peeple whitch have fits have to be verry careful not to get xcited. so when you go to a picknic again and enny feller throws a bull toad or a snaik into your lap you must reflek that a bull toad and a green snaik never bite or scrach and aint poizen. if you had gnew that at the picknic you wood not have had that fit. mother says that if peeple keep having fits they get wirse and sumtimes go crasy. so i hoap you will forgive me and will be very cairful not to get xctied. it is dredful to have fits and i am verry sorry for you.

yours verry respectively Harry Shute

there i think she will be verry mutch pleesed when she gets that leter. she wont think i am the wirst boy in town.

this is the letter i rote to Rhody Shatuck.

Missis Rody Shatuck Exeter New Hampshire dear Missis Shatuck. I am verry sorry for hollering to Beany at the picknic last weak about your skinny legs. i woodent have did it if i had been well, but i had been poizened by poizen ivory leeves and the minister had cheeted me out of my fifty cents and everybody had jawed me becaus i cougt a eal and so i done it. if you had a hair lip or a squint ey or a wenn on your neck like old Nat Mason it woodent be so bad but it is a dredful thing to have such skinny legs as you have got and i am verry sorry for you becaus i have got skinny legs myself and the fellers have made fun of me ever since i can remember and it is awful to be made fun of all the time. if i was a girl i cood cover them up with my skert and nobody wood know they was skinny unless i fell down or the wind blew two hard or i pulled up my skert like you done at the picknic. so if i was you i wood be very cairful not to pick up your skert like you done at the picknic and nobody will know how skinny your legs is. sumtimes i wish fellers wore skerts but i gess i would ruther have skinny legs. so pleese to forgive me for what i done.

yours very respectively Harry Shute.

this is the leter i rote to the minister.