well while we was hollering
mister Head and the Head girls who was setting on their steps got up and
went into the house laffing, and the company at J. Alberts all laffed,
and J. Albert came down and beckoned to Beany and Beany he went running
over to get his 10 cents and J. Albert he said, Elbridge, that is Beanys
name, Elbridge you cood have your money enny time if you had asked me
for it decently, but now i shall not pay you for a week and i shall not
imploy you enny more. Tell you what, Beany came over to my steps feeling
pretty cheap and we was talking about it when mother called me in and
sent me up stairs, and said she wood tell father as soon as he came
home. So i went up stairs and looked out of the window jest in time to
see Beanys father lugging Beany in by the neck. Well that nite after
father got home he jawed me and said i coodent go down town for a
week and made me go to J. Alberts right before the company and ask his
forgiveness, and Beany had to to. J. Albert was a pretty good fellow and
said it was all right, and dident want our fathers not to let us go down
town, but father said i must learn to be respectable to my elders. Gosh
we dident know J. Albert was a elder. We knowed elder Stevens and elder
Stewart and deacon Gooch and we always was respectable to them, and if
we had knowed that J. Albert Clark was a elder we woodent have sassed
him for nothing.

April 26. Yesterday and day before it was brite and fair, and yesterday
was as warm as summer. today, it was cold and it snowed a little. jest
enuf to make the ground look as if it was covered with salt. the birds
looked all humped up. i bet the frogs hind legs is about froze. it is
raining now. if i was a frog i woodent come out of the mud until summer.
perhaps they cant stay under more than six months.

April 27. Warm again. 2 eggs today. i have got another hen. Willyam
Perry Molton gave it to me. it is a leghorn and his other hens licked
it and made its comb bludy and so he gave it to me. it was on the nest
today but did not lay. i went to church. Mr. Cram preeched. he talked
all about birds and flowers and i liked it.

April 28. brite and fair. all 3 hens were on the nest but dident lay.

April 29. no eggs today. mother said the hens cackled all the morning.
brite and fair.

April 30. i dont see what the mater is with my hens. i havent got 1 egg
this week. father said there was a rat in the koop. i got a steel trap
of Sam Diar and tonite i se