I will not mention any names , but I know who they are and so does father . Then I tried my best to catch cold and really be sick by standing on the snowbank in the Methodist graveyard with my bare feet until Jerry pulled me off . But it did n't hurt me a bit and so I could n't get out of going to church . So I just decided I would put my boots on and go that way . I ca n't see why it was so wrong and I was so careful to wash my legs just as clean as my face , but , anyway , father was n't to blame for it . He was in the study thinking of his sermon and other heavenly things , and I kept out of his way before I went to Sunday School . Father does not look at people 's legs in church , so of course he did not notice mine , but all the gossips did and talked about it , and that is why I am writing this letter to the Journal to explain . I suppose I did very wrong , since everybody says so , and I am sorry and I am wearing those awful stockings to punish myself , although father bought me two nice new black pairs as soon as Mr. Flagg 's store opened on Monday morning . But it was all my fault , and if people blame father for it after they read this they are not Christians and so I do not mind what they say . There is another thing I want to explain about before I stop . Mary Vance told me that Mr. Evan Boyd is blaming the Lew Baxters for stealing potatoes out of his field last fall . They did not touch his potatoes . They are very poor , but they are honest . It was us did it -- Jerry and Carl and I. Una was not with us at the time . We never thought it was stealing . We just wanted a few potatoes to cook over a fire in Rainbow Valley one evening to eat with our fried trout . Mr. Boyd 's field was the nearest , just between the valley and the village , so we climbed over his fence and pulled up some stalks . The potatoes were awful small , because Mr. Boyd did not put enough fertilizer on them and we had to pull up a lot of stalks before we got enough , and then they were not much bigger than marbles . Walter and Di Blythe helped us eat them , but they did not come along until we had them cooked and did not know where we got them , so they were not to blame at all , only us . We did n't mean any harm , but if it was stealing we are very sorry and we will pay Mr. Boyd for them if he will wait until we grow up .
We never have any money now because we are not big enough to earn any , and Aunt Martha says it takes every cent XXXXX poor father 's salary , even when it is paid up regularly -- and it is n't often -- to run this house .
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