they say the best way is to fill
them full of otes and after the otes has been in
about a day or 2 poar out the otes and the boots
is dry and the otes is wet. so when i got home i
was going to do it but there wasent moar than a
pec of otes in the baril and Nellie had to be fed so
i had to put the boots upside down behine the stove
in the kitchen. the Terible 3 had a meating and
went down to see our snaping tirtle. he was there
all rite hiched by his old hine leg to a tree and he
was out of site in a pudle of water that the rane
had made. we pulled him out by the hine leg and
he was awful mad and claued and scrached and
snaped. so we let him go back in his pudle after
we had saw that the closeline was all rite. i bet we
will maik old man Tilton gump out of his britches
when he sees that old tirtle hanging to his doorgnob.
i hope he will for enny man whitch will fill
up a swimming hole with old tin cans and glass had
augt to be bit by a ratlesnaik.

October 21, 186---it has stoped raning today. for
a wunder neether me or Beany or Pewt missed in
our lesons. it dont verry often hapen that way.
i think old Francis thougt we was playing sum sort
of a trick on him for he acked sort of quear and
looked at us sort of hard. tonite we aranged to
meat at Pewts at 8 oh clock. after school we got
a meel bag and went down for our snaping tirtle.
it took nearly a hour to get him into the bag. ferst
we had to ty up his mouth becaus we only want to
scair old man Tilton and not to kill him. it took a
haff hour to do that. we never cood have did it
if it hadent ben for Pewt who can ty gnots like a
sailer. ferst we got the old tirtle mad and then
we give him a stick to bite and then i pulled at it
and Beany pulled at the roap on his hine leg. of
coarse the snaper woodent let go of the stick and
when his head was out strait Pewt put a noos round
his mouth and wound it round and round like ganging
a fishhook on a line and he tide that old tirtles
mouth up titer than a drumhead.

then we tride to get him in the bag but it was
all we cood do he claud so. bimby we got him in.
then we tide the bag under a bush down behine old
Perry Moultons yard. then we went home. i split
up my kinlins and done my choars and studded till
8 oh clock and then mother sed i cood go down town
with Beany. so i went over to Beanys and it was
dark. so we got Pewt and went down and got the
bag and carried it up Court strete and throug old
Nat Gordons wood