The Peterkin Papers | Page 7

want a library!" said Solomon John. And all of them exclaimed,
"We want a library!"
"Let us think how we shall get one," said Mrs. Peterkin. "I have
observed that other people think a great deal of thinking."
So they all sat and thought a great while.
Then said Agamemnon, "I will make a library. There are some boards
in the wood-shed, and I have a hammer and some nails , and perhaps
we can borrow some hinges, and there we have our library!"
They were all very much pleased at the idea.
"That's the book-case part," said Elizabeth Eliza; "but where are the
books?"
So they sat and thought a little while, when Solomon John exclaimed,
"I will make a book!"
They all looked at him in wonder.
"Yes," said Solomon John, "books will make us wise, but first I must
make a book."
So they went into the parlor, and sat down to make a book. But there
was no ink.
What should he do for ink? Elizabeth Eliza said she had heard that
nutgalls and vinegar made very good ink. So they decided to make

some. The little boys said they could find some nutgalls up in the
woods. So they all agreed to set out and pick some. Mrs. Peterkins put
on her cape-bonnet, and the little boys got into their india-rubber boots,
and off they went.
The nutgalls were hard to find. There was almost everything else in the
woods,-chestnuts, and walnuts, and small hazel-nuts, and a great many
squirrels; and they had to walk a great way before they found any
nutgalls. At last they came home with a large basket and two nutgalls in
it. Then came the question of the vinegar. Mrs. Peterkin had used her
very last on some beets they had the day before. "Suppose we go and
ask the minister's wife," said Elizabeth Eliza. So they all went to the
minister's wife. She said if they wanted some good vinegar they had
better set a barrel of cider down in the cellar, and in a year or two it
would make very nice vinegar. But they said they wanted it that very
afternoon. When the minister's wife heard this, she said she should be
very glad to let them have some vinegar, and gave them a cupful to
carry home.
So they stirred in the nutgalls, and by the time evening came they had
very good ink.
Then Solomon John wanted a pen. Agamemnon had a steel one, but
Solomon John said, "Poets always used quills." Elizabeth Eliza
suggested that they should go out to the poultry-yard and get a quill.
But it was already dark. They had, however, two lanterns, and the little
boys borrowed the neighbors'. They set out in procession for the
poultry-yard. When they got there, the fowls were all at roost, so they
could look at them quietly.
SOLOMON JOHN'S BOOK. But there were no geese! There were
Shanghais and Cochin-Chinas, and Guinea hens, and Barbary hens, and
speckled hens, and Poland roosters, and bantams, and ducks, and
turkeys, but not one goose! "No geese but ourselves," said Mrs.
Peterkin, wittily, as they returned to the house. The sight of this
procession roused up the village. "A torchlight procession!" cried all
the boys of the town; and they gathered round the house, shouting for

the flag; and Mr. Peterkin had to invite them in, and give them cider
and gingerbread, before he could explain to them that it was only his
family visiting his hens.
After the crowd had dispersed, Solomon John sat down to think of his
writing again. Agamemnon agreed to go over to the bookstore to get a
quill. They all went over with him. The bookseller was just shutting up
his shop. However, he agreed to go in and get a quill, which he did, and
they hurried home.
So Solomon John sat down again, but there was no paper. And now the
bookstore was shut up. Mr. Peterkin suggested that the mail was about
in, and perhaps he should have a letter, and then they could use the
envelope to write upon. So they all went to the post-office, and the little
boys had their india-rubber boots on, and they all shouted when they
found Mr. Peterkin had a letter. The postmaster inquired what they
were shouting about; and when they told him, he said he would give
Solomon John a whole sheet of paper for his book. And they all went
back rejoicing.
So Solomon John sat down, and the family all sat round the table
looking at him. He had his pen, his ink, and his paper. He dipped his
pen into the ink and held it over the paper, and thought a minute, and
then said, "But I