oh, bug-house, the dickens,
pollywogs, and lick the stuffin out? I effort myself very strong to
find them, but it is not worth the pain to search any longer in the
dictionary.

Your affeckshunate godchild,
Andree Leblanc.

Greenville Falls, N.Y.
July 5, 1917.

Deer godchild,

How are you? I dont see that their is enny fun in life enny more. I
erned $1.56 pickin cheries off the Burtons black chery tree and I thot
that wood make 70 cents fer you and I would spend the rest on fire
crakers, well Toby that is the Burtons mastif that is always chened
up, broke loose and I guess he remembered when Johnny Smith and me had
swiped some cheries last yere when he was chened up, becaus he give
one yip and come and set rite under that tree, and he set their and
grinnd at me all afternoon, and bimeby their was a thunder shower and
I had on my blew pants that was made from dads that had got too tite
fer him, and I thot when it begin to rain Toby wood beat it, but he
just set their and didnt move till bimeby mister Burton come along and
yankt him away by the color. Well I had pickt the cheries al-rite but
I was soked clear through and the color had come off my pants and on
my legs. It is feerce to have blew legs. Well I thot I wood stop and
boy a canon craker and a pistol and I wasnt going to fire them off
before the 4th. but ole Max Dinkelheim was walking kind of slow in
front of me and I thot I wood try the pistol just once to see if it
workt, so I walkt a little faster and shot it off bingo and you shood
have seen ole Max jump! He give one flop in the air and hollered, A
bom! A bom! I guess he thot I was a submareen, and when he saw it was
me beat it after me and we run all the way home, and Max he run rite
into dad and sed, Where is that boy I will teech him to molest a
peaceful citizen. And dad sed, What has he done? And he told him and
sed, I am going to give him the best lickin of his life, and dad rolld
up his sleeves and sed, Not till you lick me first! And Max kind of
lookd at dad just like in the dream and I guess he was scart, so he
sed, If you will promise to see he is punisht I will leve it to you,
and dad sed, I promise, and Max left and dad he come up and was mad as
ole get out, and he took my pistol and canon away and I had ruther he
had give me a lickin because after too days you can set down and are
al-rite again. We have just herd the Yanks have landid somewhere in
France. Say, if you want to see a bunch