again and Emma Jane and I heard her crying and stole away.

Mrs. Peter Meserve says Grandpa Sawyer was a wonderful hand at
stories before his spirit was broken by grandmother. She says he
was the life of the store and tavern when he was a young man,
though generally sober, and she thinks I take after him, because
I like compositions better than all the other lessons; but mother
says I take after father, who always could say everything nicely
whether he had anything to say or not; so methinks I should be
grateful to both of them. They are what is called ancestors and
much depends upon whether you have them or not. The Simpsons have
not any at all. Aunt Miranda says the reason everybody is so
prosperous around here is because their ancestors were all first
settlers and raised on burnt ground. This should make us very
proud.

Methinks and methought are splendid words for compositions. Miss
Dearborn likes them very much, but Alice and I never bring them
in to suit her. Methought means the same as I thought, but sounds
better. Example: If you are telling a dream you had about your
aged aunt:

Methought I heard her say
My child you have so useful been
You need not sew today.

This is a good example one way, but too unlikely, woe is me!

This afternoon I was walking over to the store to buy molasses,
and as I came off the bridge and turned up the hill, I saw lots