Those women were just as upset as I was!!

    The next day my cousins were all in school; Aunt Arrie and Grandmammy were busy getting the wash done and I was having a grand time playing with my cousin Tom's new wagon, all by myself, when suddenly the handle came off. The tap that had held everything together had some how come loose and it was lost! I hunted and hunted all over the yard; but I couldn't find that tap. Pretty soon Tom was going to be coming home and I didn't want to be there when he discovered that I had lost the tap off his new wagon.

     "Aunt Arrie, Aunt Arrie!"

     "Yes, love."

    "I want to go home."

    "Can't you see I'm busy trying to get these clothes on the line--now you just run along and 'muse yourself until I get finished here."

    Well, I played for a little while and then I was back,

    "Aunt Arrie, I want to go home--now!"

    She stopped, turned putting  her hands on her hips and looked at me, then she pointed. "Well, there's the road--just step into it" said she bending back over the scrubbing board.

   Heeding her advice I set out for home; but I didn't get very far before I met a cow! in the middle of the road. I quickly decided to join some little colored children I'd spotted playing in their yard. Pretty soon one of them said, "Look out, here comes your Auntie!"

   I looked and I could see Aunt Arrie, switch in hand, coming down the road like a ship in full sail--bonnet and all. "I'm going to switch that young'un, I'm going to switch him, even if he were the last child on God's green earth I shall switch him."

   By this time she had come to where I was and I looked up at her and quickly said, "But Aunt Arrie, you told me to."

   She deflated as if I had punctured her, the steam slowly escaping. "Sh ..s..s..ss. sss.ssh! Yes, child, I did say that," admitted Aunt Arrie, "but I didn't mean for you to do it."

   Back at the house, Uncle Armsted showed up and he was put to entertaining me while the women finished the wash. "Hmm," he said, "You're getting to be a big boy --too big to be wearing a dress. Let's see what we can do about that." So he fashioned me a pair of pants out of bed-quilt squares we found in grandmammy's sewing basket. I thought those new pants were just great; but I still wanted to be somewhere else when Tom got home and discovered his wagon was missing its tap.

   Right about then Uncle Marc stopped by and I was quick to ask, "Uncle Marc can I go home with you?"

   "You certainly can, son." After we got in the buggy, Uncle Marc says to me, "What in the world is this you have on.?"

  "Uncle Marc, I'm just too big for a dress, Uncle Armsted made me some pants!"