Ah'm afraid to tell you ladies that Pa has just informed me that we can only run to an Austerity Ball this year. He says we must needs think of the poor and starvin'. Now, I declare I can't think why anyone would want to pay any mind to them, but Pa is mighty stubbornsome.
He says we cain't wear nothing but a yard of fabric each. The music is to be from Uncle Bo with a harmonica, and there is to be nothin' to eat 'cept Martha's giblet crunch.