Fruitlands Read Free

would certainly poison us.”
    Can Father be right? Anna and I argued about it. Anna says Father would not say it if it weren’t true. I said every farm I ever heard of used manure. Surely if what Father says is true, nearly everyone would be lying about dead. Neither Anna nor I would give in, so we ran about in the fields and pulled up grass and sucked the sweet part at the ends of the grass blades and made a daisy chain for Abby’s golden curls.
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    J UNE 10, 1843
    Father told us the story of a man who delighted not in accumulating money but in giving it to others. In secret he would put coins on the roadway for strangersto find. His satisfaction came because he gave pleasure to others without calling attention to his unselfishness. I mean to take this lesson to heart.
    Father gave us a length of rope for skipping. He says it is good exercise.
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    J UNE 10, 1843
    I have done an unselfish deed and have not put it in my journal to boast of to Mother and Father, but here in my secret journal. I was making lunch for Anna and Lizzie and myself. There were only a few wild strawberries left. Though I am hungry all the time, having a more substantial frame than Anna and Lizzie, who are more delicately made, I gave the strawberries to them, saying I preferred applesauce. In truth, I hate the applesauce because it’s sour. Our store of maple sugar is dwindling, and Mother is not allowed to use white sugar. When you take the applesauce into your mouth, its sourness bites you.
    Anna knew how I felt, and it would have been a kindness on her part if she had shared her berries with me. Then I would have done a good deed and received my share anyhow.
    Another pilgrim has come to Fruitlands, Mr. Samuel Larnard. Mr. Larnard, who is no more than twenty, once lived for a whole year on crackers and another whole year on apples. He frowned at me when I asked for a second piece of bread. Abby May, who has a fierce appetite, doesn’t mind his frowns, and today she reached onto his plate and snatched away a piece of his bread. Father scolded Abby May. Mother put her hand over her mouth so that no one should see her smile.
    This afternoon I took Anna and Lizzie off into the woods with me and said we must pretend we were in the banqueting room of a great castle. We pulled up grasses and scattered them around for rushes. A flat stone was our table. I said the chipmunks and squirrels were our great dogs lolling about waiting for us to throw bones from the table. Everyone told what they wanted for the feast. Lizzie said she would have slices of bread with lots of butter, even if butter did come from a cow. I shocked Anna by saying I would have a huge platter of bacon and eggs. Anna said she would have a dish of green beans. I said the dogs wouldn’t want any of her leavings. She said they would and that the dogs had green fur and ate only vegetables.
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    J UNE 21, 1843
    Our day begins at five in the morning with a healthful cold bath at the stream. It is very refreshing. Our baths are followed by songs, exercise, and a nourishing breakfast of bread and applesauce. When I complained that the applesauce was sour, Father explained that we must do without white sugar. The white sugar that comes to this country from the West Indies is the product of slaves.
    Then it is time for our lessons. Mr. Lane teaches us. Today we had a lesson on not eating meat. He explained that the slaughtering of animals brings out man’s cruel nature. We had a little arithmetic and a fine discussion of self-sacrifice, which is Mr. Lane’s favorite subject. Mr. Lane helped me to see that I am selfish, thinking little of others. I must be willing to do without so that my soul may be strengthened.
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    J UNE 21, 1843
    Our baths today were the funniest sight you can imagine. First the men bathed in the stream, and when they returnedI went with Mama and my sisters for our baths.
    Lizzie asked, “Must I take a bath with frogs?”
    Anna