My Travels with Capts. Lewis and Clark, by George Shannon
Pittsburgh July 18 1808 If I write of this day I must say I counted nails screws nuts bolts brads hooks and locks I thought I was done when Peter the shop s errand boy rolled in a fresh keg of nails and I started counting again This evening I plunked myself down at the kitchen table and toted up my inventory Uncle Liam kept his hawk eye on me Twice I added wrong and he thumped me on the head Hard too At last I got the sums added up Then Uncle said he must see my geography lesson and I had to confess that somehow the geography book has gone missing You find it boy Uncle said or I will yank down your breeches and tan your bottom Just you try it Uncle I may be scrawny but I am strong We'll see who gets tanned Or so I wish I'd said July 22 08 Uncle Liam had just stepped out of the shop this after noon when a gentleman came in He said he'd been promised handsaws at 1 2¢ each and I sold him all we had at that price When Uncle came back and learned of the sale he started screeching how handsaws go for 3¢ apiece and I'd been cheated He picked up a hammer but I ran out of the shop before he could thump my head with
Snagged my breeches on a nail and tore a hole I got out the little red housewife kit stuffed with needles threads and such that Ma gave me when I left home I had a devil of a time poking the thread into the needle eye but at last I got her through and stitched up the tear A neat job too July 28 08 Uncle Liam saw me stitching Tonight after supper he handed me two pairs of holey socks to mend I am half glad for his socks as they took Uncle's mind off my lessons No sign of the geography book How Ma s sister came to marry Uncle Liam I will never understand July 30 08 Uncle Liam dished out rice and beans for supper I spied chunks of pork in his bowl but search as I might I found none in mine When I asked why Uncle said You eat like a horse boy I can't hardly afford to keep you in beans Uncle complains of a toothache Aug 3 03 Uncle Liam s tooth still nags him The barber could pull it but my uncle says he won't spend good money on a bad
I turned my room upside down looking for Geography Made Easy No luck Aug 4 03 Uncle shook me awake in the night His rotten tooth was paining him bad and he said I must yank it I fol lowed him to the kitchen where he gulped down some whiskey Then he handed me the pliers pressed his back to the wall and opened wide Uncle's breath stank worse than old Red Dog s back home and the lantern gave poor light but at last I found the culprit way in the back of his mouth and got a grip I pulled Uncle Liam hollered We kept this up for a while but nothing came of it Next I braced my foot against his gut and twisted and wrenched that tooth in a most horrible manner but it would not be yanked At last Uncle shoved me aside He staggered off to bed saying it is a good thing I am not a tooth puller's apprentice For once I agree with my uncle Aug 5 08 The barber pulled the tooth Uncle Liam brought it home He says he paid so much for this tooth it would be a shame to toss it out so he set it on the mantle for a decoration propped up against the frame holding a lock of hair from Ma s poor dead
