ted it.

he sed he wood assure me that everything wood
be all rite if i wood tell him how mutch i wanted
for it but i told him he coodent have the boat unless
i went with it and he had beter get a boat of
sumbody elce. he sed that my boat was large and safe
and that nobody elce has so good a boat.

i told him that wasent my fault but that was the
way i did business, so after awhile he sed well if i
wood promise to do all the rowing that he wanted
he wood ingage me and my boat and he is going
to give me 50 cents. i only get 25 cents most of the
time but i thougt i had augt to get 50 of him. so
he sed all rite and i am going. when father come
home i told him the minister had sed that if i wood
come to the picknic and help row the boat he would
give me 25 cents more than i usally got, and he
sed i cood do it if he wanted me as bad as that. i
dident tell father all i sed to the minister or all he
sed to me. i dont think the minister wanted me
very bad. i think he wanted the boat more. enny
way he had to do it. tomorrow i am going to wash
the boat out and i bet i will have a good time.
Keene says she woodent want to go where she
wasent wanted but i told her that when they paid
me twice as mutch as i usally got it showed that they
wanted me prety bad. so Kerry coodent say mutch
to that.

August 28, 186---it is almost time for school to
begin and i have lost a hole week in bed and my life
has been despared of. i dont beleeve enny feller
ever was so sick as i have been and still lived to
tell the tale. doctor Pery sed he never gnew a feller
to go throug what i have went throug and live. it
was that darn picknic that done it. doctor Perry
says they aint a doctor in Exeter that dont lay in a
lot of extry caster oil and rubarb and sody and a
new popsquert and get a lot of sleep the nite befoar
a chirch picknic. he sed that a collick from eating
two mutch is bad enuf but when a feller is all swole
up with poizen ivory leeves two it is wirse.

it is a very long story and i dont beleeve i can
write it out all in one evining becaus sumtimes my
head goes round like a button on a barn door so
father sed.

wel the morning of the picnic i got up erly and
washed out my boat and had it at the worf when the
peeple come down. mother sed she dident want me
to go unless i took sumthing for them to eat so she
put me up a half dozen donuts and sum sanwiches
and sum apple tirnovers and a little bottel of pickels.
well i thougt t