Nelson Family Juvenilia
Box 1 Folder 57
Elmer Nelson fragment from an unidentified publication - n.d.

Blackbirds [24]

Vol 1

There was a lake near our house and today I thought I would go up to the upper end where I knew blacksbirds were plenty I took my gun and rowed up there while I was going I caught sight of a mink under a log beside of the lake I fired at it but missed it when I landed I went into the wood on the left side after I had gone in a little ways I heard one singing in a tree I went a few rods farther and saw a big fat black bird setting in a cherry tree I put my gun to my shoulder and fired the blackbird fell to the ground. I picked it up and then shouted to my brother who was in the woods somewhere he answered I went to him just before I got to him I heard his bowgun go off I and he went to a big cherry tree where there was usually a lot of black birds in it when we got to it we saw a lot of them I fired at one but didn’t hit it I fired again and brought down one then we went down to our house By E. H. Nelson

In the Forest

I and my mother and my two brothers lived in a log house in the forest we had heard several of bears for the last two nights some people are afraid to live in the forest we was not afraid though one day I and my brother nearest my age went out to see if we could see and shoot a bear or two before we came home after we had gone in a little ways George he said dont you hear a crackling of limbs of[f] at our right I listened and hear it why yes I said lets go and see what it is we went and saw a brown bear I fired and hit it and only hurt it a little but not very much it started to run after us but but George shot and killed it then we went home and showed it to Mama

By E. H. Nelson

Fell In

[Illustrations dispersed throughout the story]

There was I and my brother had found a pond so we made a boat [crossed out] we got ready and jumped in and started to row over to the island and see what there is an[d] it said I all right said Jack he was my brother so I rowed out a little ways then we stopped and fished a little while then we went on till we got to island this was in the fall we found several sour pear trees there was mostly spruce trees we did not want to let anybody know that we had found a pond had three islands the two others besides the one we were on were larger than the one we were on the pears werent quite ripe so we let them be then we jumped into our boat and rowed to the island we found that it was covered with cherry trees there was once in a while a pear tree but it was not worth very much, then we went to the next island just as we went to get cut [illegible] heard a growl and looked and there was a wolf I jumped back into the boat and took up my gun I aimed and fired the wolf roled over I steped on shore and I and my brother pulled it in to the boat we saw that it was kind of heavy then we jumped in and rowed out a piece when suddenly the boat tipped and we went in and so did the wolf my brother and I grabbed hold of the boat and set it righ[t] side up jumped in and started for the place we started from in the begining.

By E. H. Nelson

[Illustration of two people at a dinner table]

[Unfinished illustration of a woman]

[Page break] Lost in the Woods

There was some boys they went

[End of document]