t' sleep in meetin' and pa took and done up his hair weth yalluh ribbons off'm cigars. Pa says Wilbur looked awful comical—jist like a horse's mane at th' fair. And Wilbur's awful absent minded. Onct he was t' our house alone and he decided he'd go down town, so he left a note t' let ma know. It said, 'Gone down town. Will be back at five. Have hid key under mat.' Wasn't that silly?

   "Turn over."

   "That's my little cousin, Johnnie Aiken, down t' Brimfield. Ain't he cute? He's jist th' worst little feller t' ast questions yuh ever see. And th' funniest ones! Onct th' persidin' elder was t' their house and he hadn't no more'n said th' blessin' till Johnnie ups and says, 'Say, pa, how fur kin a cat spit?' he says."

   "That's Aunt Minervy Hopkins, pa's aunt. She believed in sperrits.

   "Turn over."

   "Uncle Jed Doty and his wife, Aunt Phoebe. He's ma's half-brother and he's an awful good singer. Ust t' travel weth Doc Lighthall. He's handsome, too, I think; but Aunt Phoebe ain't very. Ma says she ust t' be awful purty till after she had th' rheumatism s' bad, but pa says he guesses she must a-had it before ever he see her."

   "Cousin Willie Peebles, a nice little feller, but funny. That there jaw ain't swelled. Jist nacherul. Pa says Willie's th' mumpiest lookin' boy he ever see."

   "Uncle Charley Sparks, that is. He's awfully witty. Onct when Aunt Kate said she liked a clock fer company, its tick was s' comfortin', and gramma said she liked a dog better, Uncle Charley he ups and says, 'Would yuh want th' dog t' have ticks, ma?' he says.

   "Turn over."

   "That's Uncle Abner Sedley. He's th' most stubborn person in our fambly, even if he is a preacher. One time last winter he got awful mad at a church meetin' 'cause things didn't go his way and stomped out, yellin', 'My hands is clear; I wash my skirts of th' whole matter!' he says. Then he found he'd fergot his specs and he had t' sneak back in and git 'm, weth ever'body snickerin'. I guess he felt purty cheap.

   "Turn over."

   "That's my cousin, Edna Sparks. She ain't very smart and she's got a voice that's a terror to snakes, but her ma thinks she kin sing and's allus sickin' her on t' do it. Pa says onct th' silly thing says when her ma was urgin' her before comp'ny, 'Aw, ma, I can't sing, my hands is 

 Prev. P 4/8 next