July 20. the race is to be next Wensday. They is Pewt and Beany and Fatty Gilman and Fatty Melcher. Boog and Whack and Puzzy was going to race but they wanted to have it at sandy bottum and we fellers wanted to have the diving mach at the oak and the swiming under water at the gravil becaus it is wider there, and so they was mad and woodent come in. Ennyway sandy bottum isent wide enuf and you cant tell whether a feller is swiming one foot on bottum. today i went in 7 times. ferst i practised swiming fast bullfrog fashion. next i practised side stroak next i practised swiming under water. i swum 5 times acros at the gravil. then i practised floteing, but i cant flote without keeping my hands moving. ferst my feet sink and when i get straight up and down my head goes under. then i div until my head aked like time agen. i feel prety tired tonite. July 21. rany as time. i only went in swiming 2 times today and i dident dive enny. i only practised swiming fast and floteing. i coodent flote. in every boys book of sports and amuzements it says throw yourself on your back and throw your head back and hold your breth and you will not drownd until asistance reeches you. so i tride it today but i coodent hold my breth more than 1 minit and as soon as i let out my breth down i went unless i kep my hands moving. so what the man whitch rote that book said aint so unless asistance comes in 1 minit. July 22. brite and fair and hot as time. Pewt thinks he is going to beat me swiming. i gess he will find out. July 23. today was sunday and i coodent practise swiming or diving, darn it. July 24. brite and fair. i only went in swiming 2 times today, once this morning and once this afternoon, but i staid in all the morning and all the afternoon so i coodent go in more then 2 times. the race is day after tomorow. July 25. brite and fair. today we went up to Pewts and we aranged about the prises. Pewt was to give the prises. the prise for swiming fast was a bag of erly apples from Pewts garden. the prise for swiming under water was a gewsharp and the prise for the best diver was a cain fishing pole and the prise for floteing was a arrow rifle. we all give 5 cents eech to buy the cain pole. the gewsharp was one whitch Pewt had and the arrow rifle Pewt had made. So Pewt he said as long as he give 2 of the prises he was to have the say about whitch beat.