2) Monday Morn.

I feel to triffling to work or do anything so I guess I will set down & write a little to you. I dont sleep good in the afterpart of the nights & I feel wore out & good for nothing thru the day. the rest feel about as common I guess. Pa & Mabel are out. she is right at his heels constantly & talking every breath. he dawned his old garbs this Morn & is here & there & it seems so good & natural to have him home again for Oh how I did miss his company for we have been alone so much. he has been down in the garden & made beds for my onion sets but the wind blows so hard & cool from the north that it will be rather unpleasant setting them out. I set the big ones out Sat eve & planted the Pie Plant seed or the most of it for I thot Sue would think she ought to have some. Dick had bought a paper just the evening before but you know the Seed packages never has many in. Pa has been telling me about how busy your are all the time cleaning & sweeping & cooking something good to eat. I asked him what you would do if you was here & had to have a big armful of dirty gritty cornstalks brought in & laid down by the stove to mess up your floor & keep it just gritty with dirt all the time. he said you would just actually kill yourself then trying to keep it swept up. I would as soon live where it is mud as to have to clean after the cornstalks -­

the bird is singing so sweet. I am going to have a hook made so he wont have to hang so near the wall & he will do better. I expect you will get the card today I hope so for I know you are anxious to know if he got home safe. We all expected to see Ed come with him but I tell you Less & Sue looked relieved. I believe if I was him I would go off & never let any of my folks know where I was for not one of them wants him around. Julia wrote the awfulest letter to Lesses about him while he was here & Sue read it to him. but he didnt seem to care. Less was so anxious to get Bear & Hull here now I dont pity him much) if he does have to keep him. he has been there all the time. only a couple of days he took dinner here. but has stayed there nights. he has run the other Dr. out & has a call every few days. I believe he is a good Dr. but it is plain to be seen that he is a drinking man.

We can see a big improvement in Mabel the last few days. more color in her face, eyes brighter & appetite better. Oh she does love your apple butter. & the lace for her skirt is so pretty & fine. I made some a year ago last fall out of germantown yarn & she has wore it on her skirt both winters. & is not wore out yet. I think it looks so warm around their little knees. Her head is almost naked but new hair begins to peep throu. I can blow my breath on her head & the little hairs flies off like feathers. he call her bally but she says O I aint bally neither. Pa said you talk of cutting Blanchies hair off. Oh I know it would not be near the trouble but her hair was so pretty when she was here & I know it is prettier now. I would hate to hear of it being spoiled. for it never will be so pretty afterwards. I have forgot about making them night drawers. he said you said I made them but I fail to recollect. After dinner again & I'll try & write some more. Pa & D. is setting out the onion sets & I am baking bread. Mabel asleep. Late listing corn on his place. the wind has quit blowing mostly & it is almost hot again the Bird is spittering & sputtering away as merry as can be.

the oats are comeing up nice & the men says wheat looks splendid. Every­ body predicts a good crop this year but they dont know what it will be till it has all come to maturity. I hope there will be tho. Late lost his youngest & best cow while Pa was up there but I did not write about it for I knew it would worry him & maybe spoil his visit. Old Beck mule got her cornerd between the stable & hog pen & pitched at her. & made her jump over a ladder & in to the hog pen & ruptured her. she lived three weeks but got worse graduly & she went almost to the back of the pasture one night & died. her whole insides was comeing out & they could not take her hide off. she was a good gentle cow. we have 4 fresh ones & three more that will be sometime this spring.

I wrote you a short letter last thurs & told you a hard rain went north of us the Sat afternoon before. well since I wrote the word has come that it tore Ninnescah all down but three houses & killed three people. We have not heard whither it struck at Websters or not. it was a terrible looking cloud & we was confident it was following the Ninnescah river. I told you we went to a play at Clipper school house that night. the play was called Above the Clouds. & was good. Nell & Frank was there. she came home with us & Late was going to take her home the next day. they got as far as Sand Creek & it was booming so they could not cross & had to come back. it was cloudy & cold & I would not go. so after dinner we all went down to Eds awhile. Mond morn the sun was shining but was cold but she would not give up but I must go home with her so we wraped up & went Aunt Lyd come out to meet us so much like Ma use to meet you. she said Sue told her that Pa had bought land up there & she thot it was for D & me. & Aunt Lyd had about made up her mind that Pa was going to marry some woman there & come back here & she that she could never bear to see Mas place filled by another & I told her she never would for I did not think he would have the best one liveing. Sue got a letter from Matt & she wanted to know if Pa had become disgusted with Kans or had he gone back to find him a housekeeper. I reckon she did not think he thot enough of you to go expressly to see you. she had been sick in bed 8 weeks. & all caused by lifting a tin teakettle with about three quarts of water in from the front to the back of the stove. She had commenced a private school at their house. Foreman taught 6 weeks & then quit. they have bought a farm of 80 acres in Ark. 20 mi from Eureka Springs with timber & all kinds of fruit on it. they like it splendid there. thier place is near a little town called Forest Green. Well Helen it nearly kills me to write--& you will think so from the looks of this writing wont you