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Sunday 4:45 a.m.

Darling Children:

I'm home again! Left the Inn last evening The O.L. and I had a difference of opinion on some subjects and neither of us would give in, so we parted good friends. She wanted me to iron out sheets that had been used and put them in again. She refused to screen in the back porch and shut out flies and mosquitoes from Rossie's room. The poor girl had to burn damp rags and make a smudge at night in order to be able to sleep at all, and she would get up mornings as tired as when she went to bed, and be all bitten up in the bargain. She wanted me to economize in every possible way, and not put so much in the dishes, etc. etc. etc. But the final act was this: when we started in, she had a lot of groceries that she bought in Dec. '96 at Montgomery Wards that she said would save us much because the prices were lower. She continually patted herself on the back for her foresight and sagacity in getting them. Last week she called me in saying she had something to say to me that I mightn't like. She expects her daughter and a friend to spend the winter, so she wants to hoard up the vegetables to use then. As I owned half of them by reason of our partnership, I contended that she should continue to let me use them and benefit by the low prices (in which she would share, of course). But no, she said I could buy them. Friday morning I asked her for a can of salmon. She kept all the stuff at her place and doled it out as I needed it. She meekly handed out a can and said nothing. A few minutes later I told her I wanted