Free Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

said, and Granny Rowe done all the rest of it, and I got to hold the baby wich is named John Arthur after Daddy, a little boy. Granny Rowe says that sometimes it happens like that, one spirrit goes and a nother one comes direckly, but you cant make too much out of it. Granny Rowe says it is nothing but natural, that is all. Tomorry, Victor says, we will start to plant.
    And so I remane your devoted,
    Â 
    IVY ROWE.

    My dear Mrs. Brown,
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    To anser your questin, YES I will love to come! My momma has said at first that No I may not come, it will spoil me rotten, but now she says yes I may come, to get me out of her hair, I will have to be good and watch my Ps and Qs. So I may come when your nice is visiting, Victor will carry me down to your house on his way back to work with the company as he has got our garden put in now, and they think so highly of him over ther.
    I remane your exited and grateful,
    Â 
    IVY ROWE.
    Â 
    PS, I will see you soon!

    Dear All,
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    I know you will want to hear from me and how I am getting along. Well the anser is, fine. Molly Bainbridge is the nice of Mrs. Brown, her whole name is Margaret Mae Bainbridge wich I love so much I culd eat it with a spoon. It is like a Party name isnt it? I know you rember our Play Parties in the woods. Now as I write this letter I am sad all of a sudden, I dont know what has come over me, I think of you All so. Please do not think I am fancy, nor spoilt, nor putting on Airs. It is not so, as I will tell you direckly. Things is not all what they seem ether.
    But Molly is real sweet and you wuld love her too. Molly is my age 14 she has shiny dark brown hair that curls all down her back, she has a million diffrent ribands for it too, they lay in the drawer of her trunk just like a rainbow, it is the prettest thing, all the colors you can think of, some you cant. The first time ever I seed them all laying ther like that, I starred and starred and cotched my breth, they was so beutiful. So Molly said, Why what are you looking at Ivy?
    And when I told her, she laghed and said, Oh Ivy go on. That is how she says it, Oh go on.
    Molly laghs a lot, also she talks all the time. The firstest two days I was here, I got plum wore out just trying to foller what all she said, now I am keepen up pretty good. Molly looks so much like Mrs. Brown you wuld take them for sisters. Mollys momma is the elder and Mrs. Brown is the younger one. Molly can cross her eyes grate, also she can stick her tonge out all rolled up, and she is so full of notions Momma, if you think I am full of notions you shuld see Molly Bainbridge. I cant hold a candle to her.
    So far Molly and me have played cowboy, queen, city, and goldrush. The way you play goldrush is, go to the creek with a seve and pan for gold. You migt find some. A boy found a ruby not far from here down in North Carolina, Mister Brown showed us this in a newspaper. Also now we are writting a play, we will give it for Mister and Mrs. Brown. Also Molly has got a jumprope so we jump rope a lot we sing songs too and play jumprope games.
    One time Mrs. Brown come out and jumped rope too, she is not like a lady some ways she is just like a girl. Molly says that Mrs. Brown wants children the worst in the world, but so far her and Mister Brown has not had any luck. I thoght, if Molly comes up on the mountain to see us we culd get Granny Rowe to send Mrs. Brown something to holp her out. I will write more of this later.
    Now I will tell you what all Molly has in her trunk, this is a Chinese red trunk with brass straps, inside it she has
    17 Hair Ribands
5 Dresses
3 Skirts
4 Camisoles
3 Shirtwaists
Pink Stationary
A White Bible
Ballay Shoes!
A Bathing Costume!
    She will not need the last two up here, belive you me! This is what Mrs. Brown toled her. She toled Molly that mountain girls do not dance ballay, nor swim in a bathing costume. But we have swum down at the swimmen hole in the bend of the Levisa many times when Daddy took us fishen, I