Brite and Fair

by Henry A. Shute

November 3, 186—-cold as time this morning. i saw a flock of robins eeting sum red berrys on a tree. the blackberds has all gone 2 weaks ago. Potter Gorham says they follow the cost line down south stoping evry day somewhere to eet. the robins goes last and sumtimes stays here all winter. i have never saw a robin in winter but Potter sed he see one onct.

Potter knows all about birds and animals and insex and things. he is going to be a natturalist sum day. i wood ruther be a natturalist than enything in this wirld xcept a band player. so i am going to be a band player and play the e flatulent cornet becaus that is the highest and the loudest and the eesiest to carry round.

the trumboan is pretty good and if i cant play the cornet i shood like to play the trumboan. if sum feller wood maik a trumboan that wood have the 2 parts slip into eech other so far that there woodent be enything left then a feller cood put in into his vest poket when he wasent playing it and nobody wood know he had it. it wood be grate fun to taik your trumboan sliped together in your vest poket to chirch and when the old minister was preeching auful tiresum and old mister Blake and old Han. Dow and old Steve Gail and all the other men in the chirch are sleeping and injoying the sirmon verry mutch indeed thank you to taik the trumboan out of your vest poket and put it together and blow a auful toot ratetatoot as loud as you can and see all the old pods gump up and sum of them hit their heads on the phew in frunt of them where they has been leening their heads in an atitood of prair and the old minister loose his plaice and gump ten paiges to 7thly insted of 4thly. and when old C. Lovell 2th whitch is sumtimes sexton and sumtimes suprintendent of the sunday school comes round to see who blowed the horn and to put him out they aint no horn enywhere and sum folks think it may be the last trump of Gabril. if i ever get time i am going to try to maik a trumboan like that but i am so bizzy with the afairs of the Terible 3 that i cant spend eny time in sutch things as them.

Tonite we put the sine Pewt rote for old Biley Tilton on Ikes house. we had a meating of the Terible 3 and we desided that we woodent do eny moar at present to old Biley becaus when a man sets in his garden with a shot gun on his gnees and dont ast the polise to help him they aint mutch use to do enything to him. bimeby peraps we may have a chanct. we also desided not to do eny moar to J. Albert becaus he done so well in the dog fite and was so perlite to the woman when she sed he was no gentlemen when it wasent his falt becaus he coodent stop the dog from chaising her cat the ferst yank but done the best he cood. so we aint ging to bother him eny moar. so we put up a sine on his house and neerly got cougt but dident quite. it sed

J. Albert Clark. the Terible 3 has desided that they has maid a mistaik in your case. you done splended in the dog fite and you hung on to the chane and dident let go when Lamp Flood was going to lick you whitch took grate curage. The Terible 3 think you are a good feller and are your frends for life. The Terible 3.

November 4, 186—-Today Ike got old Swane to stay there. he smoaks a wirse smeling pipe than old Filander. Filander stays nites and old Swane daytimes. Ike sent for father and father advised him to have sumbody round all the time. it costs a lot of money but father says nobudy wood know the vallue of money unless they spends it. Ike thinks sumthing is going to hapen prety soon.

November 5, 186—-rany today. i gess it was lucky it was for if it hadent been for the rane Ikes house wood have birne down. gosh the Terible 3 is fealing prety wurried. last nite at 3 oh clock the bells begun to ring and in heard peeple hollering fire. i gumped up prety lifely and i cood hear father yelling for his britches. we got to the frunt door together and we cood see a big blaiz up towards Ikes. gosh i was scart. when father sed them devils has did it at last i thougt it was all boys play but i gess it was real. it means stait prizon for life for sombudy. i was so scart that i cood hardly maik my hine legs go but i kep up. all the bells was ringing and evrybudy was hollering fire. when we got there Pewts father and Beanys father and old Filander and old Nat Weaks and old Bill Greanleef and old printer Smith and old Parry Moulton and old Gus Brown and Pewt and Beany and evryone were pumping water into lether buckets and pales and hollering where in hell is the ingines and this is a hell of a fire dipartment and rushing round and getting in each others way and swaring and luging out the firniture and throwing crockery through the windows. old Bill Greanleaf lowered his wife out of her chamber by tying her to a sheet and then clim down hisself when all he had to do was to go down stares and out of the door. and it was only 10 feet high and they cood have gumped if necesary. old Mrs. Sawyer fainted ded away and sumbudy throwed a pale of water on her and she gumped up and called him all the naims she cood think of.

jest then the Torent No 2 come down the strete with the men on the roap running on the cleen gump. they stoped by the reservor and run out the hoze and let down the pipe and then found that they had left the nozzle at the ingine house upon the plains and they sent a feller up there on horseback and all they cood do was to pump water into pales whitch helped sum but not mutch. then the fellers formed bucket lines and kep a pumping and pouring and wondering where the Union No 1 and Fountain No 3 were.

it tirned out after the fire was over that the moon was rising in Hamton Falls and that they saw the lite and went down there as fast as they cood hiper thinking there was a big fire and when they got way up to Isiar Hanes house the moon was up so that they cood see what it was and they was so tuckered out runing a mile and a haff up hill that they coodent do a single thing but set down and sware and call each other dam fools. they was even two tuckered out to fite and most always firemen is ready to fite and so they must have been prety well used up.

well we fellers whitch was at the fire wirking our heads off and triing to save old Bill Greanleef and his wife and Ike and his wife and old Bill Morill was getting prety tuckered with pumping and hollering and throwing water on the flaims and throwing firniture throug the winders and runing ladders agenst peeples heads and saving hens by the hine legs squorking and flaping feerful and wondering where the Union No 2 and the Fountain No 3 was and what had become of the feller whitch had went for the nozzle and hadent come back when it begun to pour rane and i never gnew it to rane faster and in a few minits the fire was out. then we was going to move the thing back but we found that sum of the firemen had choped hoals in the roof of the house. the fire hadent got to the house but they thougt they wood have the hoals reddy for the Union No 1 and Fountain No 3 and the feller whitch had went for the nozzle and hadent got back when they got there. so the house was full of water and sum of the plastering had fell down on the heads of the fellers whitch were throwing things throug the winders and covered them with plaster.