DIRY (continued 2)

July 8. nothing particular today. you bet that baby can howl. went to church.

July 9. brite and fair. most every morning we go up in mothers room to see the old fat woman wash the baby and hear it howl. it turns black in the face. i bet it will be a fiter.

July 10. i have got a new nickname. it is yallerlegs. that is becaus father bought me a pair of kinder yellow britches, and made me wear them. i bet he woodent like to be called yallerlegs.

July 11. brite and fair. went in swiming today to a new place. we call it the stump. it is up by the eddy.

July 12. a thunder storm. in the afternoon went fishing but dident get a bite. Pewts father says fish wont bite after a thunder storm.

July 13. a auful hot day. tonite i went up to the depot to see Majer Blake and Charles Tole fite over passengers to the beach.

July 14. i am going to the beach to stop with Beany in his fathers tent. it is called hotel de pig.

July 15. i gess i will go tomorrow.

July 16. me and Beany went to the beach and stopped all day and all nite. we had a bully time.

July 17. another hot day. went in swiming 4 times. my back is all burned.

July 18. me and Beany got in the newsleter today. the paper said the Siamese twins was at the beach stoping at Watsons tent. Pewt was mad becaus we got in the paper and he dident and told all round that it dident mean me and Beany but Rashe Belnap and Horris Cobbs.

July 19. Hot as time. nothing particular today.

July 20. Hot as time. nothing particular today.

July 21. Auful hot. big thunder shower and litening struck a tree in front of Perry Moltons house.

July 22. Went to church. Beany let the wind out of the organ and it squeaked and made everybody laff. Keene and Cele sing in the quire. father feels pretty big about it.

July 23. i got stung by hornets today. i went in swiming at the eddy and when i was drying my close i set rite down on a stump where there was a nest of yellow bellied hornets. they all lit on me and i thought i was afire for a minit. i ran and div rite off the bank and swam way out under water. when i came up they were buzing round jest where i went down. when i came out the fellers put mud on my bites and after a while they stoped hurting. i tell you the fellers jest died laffing to see me run and holler.

July 24. Brite and fair. i was all sweled up with hornet bites but they dident hurt enny, i looked jest like Beany when he had the mumps. everyone laffed at me.

July 25. i got a fishhook in my leg today. me and Fatty Melcher was a fishing when we got our lines tangled, i hollered first cut, but i dident have enny nife and Fatty woodent let me have his nife. So we got jerking our lines kinder mad like and all of a suddin the hook got into my leg. gosh you bet it hurt. me and Fatty got the hook out but it bled some. the worst of it was there was a wirm on the hook and when we got the hook out they wasent enny wirm there. Fatty says people sometimes dies from having wirms in them. i bet this one has crawled way in. it may grow inside of me. something is always hapening to me. when i got home i went down to docter Derborns store and bought some wirm medicine and swalowed sum. it was auful bitter. it cost 20 cents out of my cornet money.

July 26. brite and fair. i was all rite today except my leg was stiff mother asked what made me lame and she put on a peace of pork. i told her about the wirm and she said the pork wood draw him out if he was there but she gessed he dident go in. when i told her about the wirm medecine she jest set down and laffed. so i gess i needent wory about having wirms. i went down to doctor Derborns and tride to get him to take the medicine back but he said he woodent. i think he is pretty mean not to.

July 27. i coodent go in swiming today on account of my leg. all the fellers went in and i had to set on the bank and see them.

July 28. Coodent go in swiming today either. my leg is nearly well. mother took off the pork today. it was all white where the pork was. i can go in swiming Monday. i went down to the library tonite. it is the first time i have been down since Joe Parsons chased me out. i gess he has forgotten it. i got out Bush Boys to read. it is a splendid book about shooting lions and zebras and gerafs and everything.

July 29. i tried to have father let me stay away from church today because my leg was sore but he said all rite you can stay, but i gess that leg will be too sore to let you go in swiming this week. so i went to church and dident limp enny. this afternoon i set under the apple tree and read Bush Boys. father and mother went to ride with Nellie. it is the first time mother has been out. Aunt Sarah took care of the baby. they gess they will name it Edward Ashman Shute. i gess it is named Ashman after the leader of the band. i am going to tell him tomorrow and see if he wont sell me a cornet on trust. brite and fair.

July 30. Brite and fair. i told father i was going down to see Mr. Ashman, and he said if you ever do i will lick you. the babys name is Edward Ashton Shute and not Ashman. i woodent name him for enny cornet player. it is pretty tuff luck. if i cood have got that cornet i woodent have minded a licking. went in swiming today.

July 31. Franky had the croop last nite. i waked up and heard him cough auful funny and kinder as if his throte was tite. i called mother and she came in and hollered for Aunt Sarah and father and they rushed round lively and gave him egg and sugar and put hot cloths on his throte til he howled and after he cood howl he was all well. Aunt Sarah took him in with her the rest of the nite. father said i was a brick to wake up and call them. i dont know when he has called me a brick before. went in swimming 3 times to-day.

Aug. 1. brite and fair. Annie tumbled down the front steps from the top to the bottom. she howled and mother thought she was about killed but she was so fat that she dident hurt her.

Aug. 2. father came home early to-day and took mother and Aunt Sarah and Keene & Georgie to ride. Me and Cele staid to look after the house. Cele went up stairs to look after the baby and when she was gone i got Annie and Franky fiting. it was the funniest fite i ever saw. they jest pushed each other round and tried to claw each other. while they was fiting Cele came down stairs and pulled them apart and boxed their ears and made them go in different rooms. She jawed me and said she wood tell father. when father came home she told on me and father sent me to bed at six o'clock. You jest wait Cele and you will find out.

Aug. 3, 186- brite and fair. the fellers played a pretty mean trick on me tonite. they played it on Nibby Hartwel last nite. Nibby is visiting his aunt and comes from the city and is pretty green like most folks from the city. you see if i hadent got sent to bed becaus Cele told on me i wood have been there and seen them play it on Nibby. well last nite all the fellers was out. Whack and Boog and Pozzy and Pewt and Beany and Nipper and Cawcaw and Pile and Chick and Micky and Pricilla and Fatty. Nibby he was there too. they wanted to play lead the old blind horse to water and i was to be the blind horse. they said they had some fun playing it the nite before, that was when they played it on Nibby but i dident know that. Well you blindfole a feller and give him a rope and a swich and the other fellers get on the other end of the rope and the feller nearest you has a bell and rings it and you pull and if you can pull him up to you, you can paist time out of him with your swich, only if you pull off your blindfole all the fellers can paist time out of you. Well they blindfoled me and hollered ready and i began to yank and pull and the feller rung his bell and he came pretty hard at first but i kept yanking and bimeby he come so quick that i nearly fell over back wards and i felt him and grabed him and began to paist time out of him when he grabed away my swich and began to paist me, and that wasent fair and i pulled off my blindfole and who do you suppose it was, well it was Wiliam Perry Molton and he was mad. they had tied me to his door bell and i had yanked out almost ten feet of wire. when i saw who it was gosh i began to holler and he stoped licking me. i gess he never licked anyone before because he dident know just how to lay it on. well when he found out how it was he let me go but he said he shood have to do something about the boys distirbing him so. it was a pretty mean trick to play on a feller. we are going to try and play it on Pop Clark tomorrow nite.

Aug. 4. brite and fair. me and Hiram Mingo had a race today to see whitch cood swim the furtherest under water. i beat him easy. he can lick me but i can beat him swiming.

Aug. 5. Nothing particular today. only church.

Aug. 6. the baby was sick today had the doctor.

Aug. 7. the baby was sicker. i dident go in swiming.

Aug. 8. the baby is better today. i went in swiming 5 times.

Aug. 9. Raned all day. The baby is all rite. i went bullfroging with Chick Chickering.

Aug. 10. Nellie is sick. Joe Hanes cut a hole in her and put in a onion and some braded hair and then father took her out to pastur. i cant ride her for a month.

Aug. 11. brite and fair. mister Watson, Beanys father got throwed off of his horse today and renched his rist. the horse coodent have throwed him but the gert broke. Mister Watson can ride splendid.

Aug. 12. brite and fair. No more church this month. bully.

Aug. 13. brite and fair. i went down to Ed Toles and me and Ed rode on the hack with Joe Parmer.

Aug. 14. Ed Tole and Frank Hanes are mad. Frank hollered over to Ed, Ed Tole fell in a hole and coodent get out to save his sole, and Ed hollered back Frank Hanes aint got no branes. and then they was mad.

Aug. 15. Wiliam Perry Molton has got some ripe apples in his back yard. me and Pewt helped him ketch some hens today and he said we cood have some apples if they was any on the ground. they was only 2 wirmy ones but before we left 5 or 6 fell off i gess it was because Pewt pushed me agenst the tree. they was pretty good apples too.

Aug. 16. Rany. i went fishing with Potter Gorham. caught 3 roach and 5 hornpowt. we et them for supper. father said i can clean fish most as well as he can. he says he will come home some day erly and go a fishing.

Aug. 17. John Gardner has hung up a Grant and Colfax flag. they will be some fun this fall.

Aug. 18. brite and fair. Today i went fishing with Fatty Melcher. we caught some ells and some hornpowt. ells and hornpowt can live a long time out of water and so when i got home i put 5 that were alive in the rane water barril.

Aug. 19. brite and fair. it is fun to sit round all day Sunday and not have to go to church.

Aug. 20. brite and fair. i had to spend the whole morning in going to the river for water for washing. it was wash day and when mother went to the rane water barril there was 5 dead hornpowt floting on the top. she made me tip the barrel over and get water from the river. they was some fun for Beany helped me and he stood in the hand cart and filled the tubs and all of a sudden i let go and the old cart flew up and Beany and the tub and the pail and everything went rite in. Beany isent going to speak to me ever again.

Aug. 21, 186- Gosh, we are having fun now. what do you think. they is going to be a big mass meeting this fall. Ben Butler and Jake Ely and lots of old pelters are going to be here, and they is going to be 4 or 5 bands and lots of fun. well before that comes they is going to be lots of political meetings and the first one is to be next week, and father is going to make a speach. Gim Luverin and Bil Morrill and General Marsten and Tom Levitt, and he is a ripper to holler. and they want father to make a speach. father says he must work for the party and perhaps he can get his salery rased. so he has been a riting every nite and mumbling it over to hisself and last nite he said he had got it. tonite he is a going to speak it to us.

Aug. 22. last nite father studed his speach over and let us stay up to hear it. he stood up and looked auful stirn and put one hand in the buzum of his shert. i coodent help laffin, but he told me to shet up or i cood go to bed and so i shet up. i tell you it was fine. It begun Mister Moddirator had i supposed, or for 1 moment dremp that i a humble offis holder under this glorious government, wood have been called upon to speak, i shood have remained at home with my wife and my children.

i said, if you dont want to make a speach why dont you stay at home that nite, and he said 1 more word from you sir and you go to bed. so i dident yip again.

then he went on like this, were it not that a crool axident in my erly youth, in my far away boyhood days prevented me from voluntearing and desecrating my life to my countrys welfare, in the strugle jest ended i wood have poared out evry drop of my blud to have maintaned her owner and the owner of her flag. mother began to laff and said George how can you tell such feerful stories, you know you were scart most to deth becaus you was afraid you wood be drafted.

father said they was a lot of old fellows traveling round the country and talking that way who coodent have been drug into the war with a ox chane. then he stood on the other leg a while and said, it is peculiarly aproprate that Exeter, the berth place of Lewis Cas, the educater of Webster, the home of Amos Tuck, of General Marston shood be fourmost in the party strife, and as for me i wirk only for my partys good, my countrys good, without feer or hope of reward. they was a lot more to it, and some of it you cood hear about a mile he hollered so.

Aug. 23. We are all going the nite of the rally. mother says she wont go for she wood be ashamed to hear father tell such dredful stories. Aunt Sarah dont want to go because she is afraid father will brake down. but she has got to go with me and Keene and Cele and Georgie.

Aug. 24. father practised his speach tonite and we all hollered and claped at the fine parts. he has got a new pair of boots. they hurt like time and he only wears them nites when he is practising his speach.

Aug. 25. father licked me tonite becaus i spoke some of his speach to Beany. he was auful mad and said i was the bigest fool he ever see. the fellers have got up a Grant Club. Pricilla cant belong because he is a demicrat.

Aug. 26. father called me and Beany out behind the barn tonite and gave us 10 cents apeace if we woodent say anything about his speach. after supper father practised again but he dident holler so loud becaus he was afraid some body wood hear him and mother dident want him to wake up the baby, and it was sunday too.

Aug. 27. it has been brite and fair all the week and hot as time. i have to go to the river for soft water because it hasent raned eny since i had to tip over the rane water barril. i have got a little tirtle as big as a cent. father went down to General Marstons office tonite to arrange about the rally. he came home and practised about an hour. i gess he wood have practised all nite if the baby hadent waked up an hollered.

Aug. 28. we are all getting ready for the rally. Keene and Cele and Georgie have got some new plad dresses. father has got a pair of gray britches and a black coat. mother said the rally was a good thing becaus it was the first time she had seen father dressed up since he was married.

Aug. 29. they was a big thunder shower last nite. we all got up in the nite and went into mothers room. mother sat on the fether bed and all them that was scart cood set there. i wasent scart. father said it would be jest the cussid luck to have it rane the nite of the rally.

Aug. 30. we had the last practise tonite, father put on his best close and new boots and the girls had on their plad dresses and i had on a new paper coller. we all set down and father came in and stood up. i tell you he looked fine. well he begun, mister modderater had i suposed or for 1 moment dremp, and then he forgot the rest. i tell you he was mad. i wanted to laff but dident dass to. well after a while he remembered and went through it all rite, and then he went over it 2 times more. gosh what if he shood forget it tomorrow nite. he is going to wright some of it on his cufs and he practised tonite making jestures so as to bring his cufs up so that he cood read it.

Aug. 31. the rally is tonite. father woke us all up last nite hollering in his sleep. he dremp about the speach. this morning he went to Boston without eating his brekfast. i gess he is begining to be scart. i am a going to make his boots shine today. gosh what if he shood brake down. i gess i am getting a little scart too. brite and fair.

Sept. 1. Last nite father came home and the first thing he did was to send me down to miss Pratts for his shert. it was all pollished and shone like glass. then he asked if i had blacked his boots and then he et supper. he dident eat much though. he said Mr. Tuck came down from Boston with him. Mr. Tuck was a going to make a speach first and then he was going to introduce Gim Loverin as chairman and then Gim Loverin was a going to call on father. father said he bet 5 dollars he wood call him Gim instead of mister modderator. father was pretty cross at supper. i gess he was getting scart. the baby began to cry and father asked mother why she dident choak the squawling brat and mother sorter laffed and put the baby into fathers lap and said i gess you had better choak him. father laffed and began to toss the baby up and down. he likes the baby and while he was playing with it he was all rite. but after supper he was cross and said he hed an auful headake. then he went practising his speach again so as not to call the modderator Gim. well we got ready and went down erly to get some good seats so as to hear father and see him come in with them that was to set on the platform. we wanted to go down with father but he said he coodent bother with us. but before we went he came down stairs with his new close on and he looked fine but his face looked auful white. he said he had a headake but as soon as he got started to speak it wood all go off. so we went down. Cele had her hair curled and Keene had a new red silk ribbon on her hair becaus her hair wont curl and Aunt Sarah had on a new dolman with beeds on it and some long coral earrings and they all looked fine. Aunt Sarah took Georgie by the hand becaus she was the littlest and me and Keene and Cele followed on.

When we got there the band was playing in front of the town hall and aunt Sarah said i cood stay out and hear it and then said i cood sit with Gim Wingit and Willy Swet if i wood behave. i said i wood and we lissened and after the band went in we went too. most all the seats were taken and we got some bully seats way up in front. i looked for father but coodent see him becaus the speakers hadent come in. well jest as soon as we got in the policeman was up in front and he said they has been to much whisling and stamping and the next one that whisles or stamps will get put out. well they was old Swane and Brown and Kize and Dirgin and every body kept quiet. after a few minits the band began to play hale to the chief and the speakers came marching up the middle ile. i looked for father but he wasnt there. evrybody began to clap and stamp and Gim and Willy asked me where my old man was. i stood up to see if he was there and jest then i saw the policeman a rushing at me. he grabed me by the collar and shook me round till i dident know which end my head was on and he draged me down the ile and threw me out. as we were going down the ile i saw Aunt Sarah running down the other ile as fast as she cood go with her bonnet on the back of her head and Keene and Cele and Georgie following along all bawling. she got out in the entry jest as he was going to put me out of the front door and she grabed me away from him and said you misable cowardly retch to treat a boy that way. he said i whisled and she said he dident and you knew it only you dident dass take ennyone else.

Then she told us to come home and we went home as fast as we cood all bawling. when we got home mother was sitting up alone and aunt Sarah started to tell her and Keene and Cele and Georgie all bawled and you never heard such a noise, and father was in bed with a headake and hollered out what in time is the matter. and she told him and i heard him jump out of bed and in a minit he came out buttoning up his suspenders. Mother said where in the world are you going George, and he said things is come to a pretty pass if a boy cant go and hear his father make a speach without being banged round by a policeman. i am going down to knock the heads off every policeman there. and he reeched for his vest. mother said George, dont you go near the hall, and father said he cood lick anny 2 men on the police force easy and he would show them how to slam people round and he reeched for his coat, and Keene and Cele and Georgia began to bawl again to think he wood get hurt and aunt Sarah and mother said you had better not go George, and father said he wood give them more fun in 5 minits than they had seen in a political rally in 5 years and he reeched for his boots and mother said what will they think of you after you have sent word that you are too sick to make a speach, to see you come rushing into the hall and go punching the policemen and father had got on 1 boot and when she said that he began to look kinder sick and said, thunder that is so. and then his headake got wirse and he gave me a twenty five cent scrip and Keene and Cele and Georgie ten cents each and he went to bed and so did we.

i wonder if his head aked really so he coodent make a speach or if he was scart. i bet he was scart.

school commences monday. father hasent asked once about my diry, so i aint going to wright enny more.