[Some paragraph marks added for ease of reading.]Templeton, Mass.,
May 19, 1907.Dear Sister:-
I am out in the hammock, reading & writing letters and I haven't a shawl or anything of that discription [sic] over me and it's nearly five o'clock. Now isn't that wonderful? Wasn't it hot this A.M.? It is cooler now & I am just comfortable. Mr. Skerrye exchanged with Mr. Barker of Athol. Mr. B- asked Mr. Pratt to exchange with him once and then sent a young fellow in his place & never sent any apologies so we weren't very happy when we heard that he was coming. Mr. Skerrye said he wouldn't do that to him but once.
Well church time came. The last bell was ringing when Auntie & I got there but the minister was lacking. He was coming in his auto so we didn't know but that he had broken down & we meditated taking a car & going up to meet him & having the service there. Well it must have been fully eleven before he came. His auto had broken down & he was nearly wild for fear it wouldn't get here. He was really very good and probably he would have seemed nicer if we weren't prejudiced against him. Lucius refused to come to church at all. That poor Vesper service is postponed till the first Sunday in May. Mr. Skerrye's throat is bothering him so he don't want to speak more than necessary.
Before dinner as I was here in the hammock a boy rode into the yard on a wheel. I wondered who he was & it took me a minute or two to realize the fact that it was Herman. He has left school & is working down at Mr. Colliers shop. He said that he & school never did agree. He is going to take a vacation soon & go up to New Hampshire with his wheel & visit some of his relatives.
After dinner I got nicely settled here & Nellie came over with a nice bunch of wild flowers. All my friends and acquaintances have been going by.
Two blue-birds are trying to decide whether they want a tenement in the apple tree in front of Auntie's windows. They like the location & I think they have the first right to it for they have just chased a sparrow away.
My lawn-mower is still in running condition. I have been all over the ground that I intend to keep mown once & I must begin again to-morrow. Tues. I lost one of the nuts off & had quite a time getting a new one.
Wed. Auntie & I went up back of the cemetery after mayflowers. We were going off on that road by Riley's but we got off at the cemetery & struck off over the hills to the road & in our wanderings came on to some flowe[r]s. No one had been there & if we had come a few days earlier we would have found a lot for there were many which had gone by. I got some shad & Auntie found some blue & white violets. She took them home roots & all & put in a saucer.
Wed night Nellie hung me a may-basket. I had a big hunt & had come into the house when I heard her blow on some grass so I went out & caught her. I never thought when I first went out to look by the Grange. - that is the place where we always go & that was where she was. The may-basket is very pretty but is indescribable so you will have to wait & see it.
Tuesday night I went to hear. Mr. Puffer give a lecture on "Boys." It was a good sensible talk & I know just how to bring up my boys. Mrs. Skerrye furnished the ice cream. It was free to the children & ten cents for the grown folks so probably it would pay for itself. Lucius & Theo treated Helen, Dorothy, Rena & I. Then after the others had gone, Dorothy, Lucius & I had some more (but I paid for my second lot.) Auntie went to Leominster that day so I went with the Parker's. Auntie went again yesterday & brought her dress home. It is a fine one I assure you. Miss Clark was at Mrs. Hadley's last week. I saw her a few minutes Mon. She visited school Wed, but I didn't see her.
I had a postal (Washington Monument) & a letter with three seals of the Metropolitan hotel on it from Ruth. She got home Fri. night but I didn't see her till yesterday P.M. We were to-gether most of the time then till bed-time. She had just a delightful time & isn't very tired. She took some salt fish with her. (She had heard that that would prevent sea-sickness.) Some were sick but Ruth & Emma weren't. Florence was. Chessie Whitney went with them. Ruth saw the president walk into church. She went to see Fred. He is rushing to get his report done. He starts for Alaska this week. Ruth said he seemed different there from what he did here. Everybody seemed ready to run at his beck & call.
Ruth went to the Capitol, White House, Monument, Arlington, Mount Vernon, War & Navy Building, Congressional Library, had an auto ride all around & I don't remember what else. Last Sun. evening she went to a "nigger" church. She said the singing was great. She made friends with all the negro servants & she seemed to be a favorite with them. Fred McNaughton, one of her class, was taken for her brother & her husband. One negro said probably the next time she came there it would be on her wedding trip. Florence didn't have a good time. She wanted to see George Cane so badly that she didn't know what to do. He met her in Boston & they two & Ruth came home from there by electrics.
I can't think of a single other thing to write. Oh yes I can. One more. Leo Cleveland didn't go to Washington. Why? No one knows. He had money enough, his folks wanted him to but he was obstinate. Ruth sent him a postal with this on it. "Are you good-natured this morning? I don't know whether you are or not but I am going to call you one big fool. From the Swede." He calls her the Swede. Pretty good wasn't it?
I had a letter from Roger last night. I wrote Fri. night. This is the third time our letters have crossed. He said that Sol [?] had gone to Boston for an operation. Pretty tough on him isn't it? The Johnsons are going to move to another part of Amherst, a little farther from the college.
I surely must stop now. You will have a job to read this trash.
With love,
Molly x x x x x x x