waded in although they didn't look for her on account of the weather but she & Enah have been cleaning the parlor all day. Frank went out at eleven o'clock to feed his ducks this morning and found all but four of them in a heap out side the box dead, one wasn't quite dead but it soon died. He put the four live ones over in the barn as he thinks it was the rain killed them but they were all well at seven when he fed them before. We haven't done any thing but sit around all day I read "The Lay of the last Minstrel" This after noon Frank drove Mrs. McBride down town and got the paper which confirms the report of Kitchener's death. Mrs. McBride said that she was in Simcoe last night and and about eleven o'clock Bob Mead ran in and said the last report was that he was saved but the morning's paper had been issued since then. Kitchener was on his way to Petergrad when the cruiser Hampshire which was carrying him & his staff struck a mine or was torpedoed off the Orkneys and they think no one has been saved. Sir Wm. Robertson it is thought will take his place in the War office. About five o'clock to-night Frank noticed a lot of our cattle down at Ben Ivey's corner at the end of the road so he and I went down to get them, they were all in martins field. Ben Ivey told Frank that they had come up through his place. There were only five of the cows ans the three steers so I went back Ivey's lane to see if I could find the rewst of them. I heard a young crow squawk back there in on eof his pine trees anssa w a little bedraggled looking fellow sittong on a limb so I threw two or three sticks at him and at last flew awa down and lit in a mud puddle where I easuly caught him and, so I brought him up in side my coat and out him in Dad's bird cage. I looked all through the gully for the catyle but as they had gone up or dad. had brought them up I couldn't find them. I waded through the creek up to my knees more than once. FDad. said he had yelled at me when I was goinf g dsown Ivey's lane but I hadn't seen him. It didn't matter much as I was soaked then.

Thursday June 8th