I really believe I've finished, Daddy. Nothing else occurs to me at
the moment--I'll try to write a longer letter next time.
Yours always,
Judy
PS. The lettuce hasn't done at all well this year. It was so dry
early in the season.
25th August
Well, Daddy, Master Jervie's here. And such a nice time as we're
having! At least I am, and I think he is, too--he has been here ten
days and he doesn't show any signs of going. The way Mrs. Semple
pampers that man is scandalous. If she indulged him as much when he
was a baby, I don't know how he ever turned out so well.
He and I eat at a little table set on the side porch, or sometimes
under the trees, or--when it rains or is cold--in the best parlour. He
just picks out the spot he wants to eat in and Carrie trots after him
with the table. Then if it has been an awful nuisance, and she has had
to carry the dishes very far, she finds a dollar under the sugar bowl.
He is an awfully companionable sort of man, though you would never
believe it to see him casually; he looks at first glance like a true
Pendleton, but he isn't in the least. He is just as simple and
unaffected and sweet as he can be--that seems a funny way to describe a
man, but it's true. He's extremely nice with the farmers around here;
he meets them in a sort of man-to-man fashion that disarms them
immediately. They were very suspicious at first. They didn't care for
his clothes! And I will say that his clothes are rather amazing. He
wears knickerbockers and pleated jackets and white flannels and riding
clothes with puffed trousers. Whenever he comes down in anything new,
Mrs. Semple, beaming with pride, walks around and views him from every
angle, and urges him to be careful where he sits down; she is so afraid
he will pick up some dust. It bores him dreadfully. He's always
saying to her: 'Run along, Lizzie, and tend to your work. You can't boss me any
longer. I've grown up.' It's awfully funny to think of that great big, long-legged man (he's
nearly as long-legged as you, Daddy) ever sitting in Mrs. Semple's lap
and having his face washed. Particularly funny when you see her lap!
She has two laps now, and three chins. But he says that once she was
thin and wiry and spry and could run faster than he.
Such a lot of adventures we're having! We've explored the country for
miles, and I've learned to fish with funny little flies made of
feathers. Also to shoot with a rifle and a revolver. Also to ride
horseback--there's an astonishing amount of life in old Grove. We fed
him on oats for three days, and he shied at a calf and almost ran away
with me.