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Revel gets up and gets Daddys guitar real gentle-like and hangs it back up where it goes. He kneels down by Daddy like he is praying and tuches his face. Dont nobody say a word. Then Revel stands up and puts on his hat and pulls on his gloves and tips up the bottle and drinks the rest of that whisky down. Ho Charly, he says. Cant ye stay the nigt, Revel? axes Momma, but uncle Revel says No Maude, Ive got to get on down the road now, and then he winks at her, and I am the onliest one besides Momma that sees it. In this wink they is a woman someplace waiting on him, and all of a sudden Oakley Fox pops up in my mind, this makes me so mad I liked to of died. Oakley Fox is stupid, hes too nice. I stomped on one foot with the othern, I was that mad, and Revel grinned at me, and said, Thats the one to watch Maude, to Momma. Then he picked me up and hugged me to him. His beard and mustashe is scratchy he smelled wonderful like tobaccy and whisky and out-ofdoors.
    Ho Charly, he said.
    And then he was gone.
    So uncle Revel has come to call on Christmas Day I reckon, and has gone on his way agin, he has given us all them jawbreaker candys and also money, Momma says. She says thank God.
    So I am wishing you a Merry Christmas Mrs. Brown and Mister Brown too down ther, it has been a lot happening, we are fine thogh and I remane your devoted,
    Â 
    IVY ROWE.

    My dear Hanneke,
    Â 
    I know you will not get this letter.
    I know I will not send it, you are the Ice Queen so cold with your icy blue eyes and your cap like a snowflake and your long white stockings as white as the snow.
    But it is snowing now and so I think of you, and sometimes it seems to me like you are more real than all of my Family, you seem more real to me now than the days that pass. It seems like I can not talk to my Family they is so many of us here in the house in the snow we have to keep the younguns in you can not bath yourself nor nothing and little Danny crys. They is noplace here you can go to get away from him crying, it is only when I am writting you this letter late in the nigt that I dont hear. And Daddy my sweet Daddy sleeps in the ligt of the fire now, he wont hardly wake up for a thing. The snow is driften plum up to the roof on the north side of the house and ever time you get the water from the spring youve got to bust the ice, and then youve got to haul it throgh all this snow, it is so hard, we have not got but one pair of gloves amongst us.
    Yesterdy when I was the one hauling the water, it was coming on for dark, I slipped and fell coming down the hill and spilled my whole bucketfull of water, I just layed in the snow and cryed and it was getting dark all around me, I just layed there crying while nigt come on, and before long I culd feel my tears freezing on my face I was so cold, and all the air was blue. I tell you, I wanted nothing more than to lay ther, that blue air seemed so pure and sweet. I culd hear the wind go whoosh real gentle-like throgh the cedar tree and come whooshing acrost the snow and it was so quite there, the wind whooshed acrost my face.
    But then Momma hollered out where was I, and the third time she hollered I said I was coming, and I went back up ther and got us some more water, and then I went on in the house. My leg had got cut and bleeding but I never even knowed it till I seen it in the ligt. I wuld of layed there forever if I culd of. Do you think this is evil? It is true thogh, belive you me.
    Well that was yesterdy evening, and then we et us some sweet taters Momma had roasted in the fire and a pot of soup beans she had cooked with some fatback in them, and some cornbread Beulah made, her cornbread is bettern Mommas. So this was good. And Garnie and Ethel is getting some meat back on ther bones now Im proud to say, and Johnny he grows like a weed but Danny dont do no good, he carrys his head to the side and walks on a slant, it seems.
    And then all of a sudden, in comes Gaynelle and Virgie Cline!
    Never even knocked