This is Abner's gurl Pearl. She's jist runnin on eighteen year old but has went plumb threw the fourth reader aready and made more headmarks than arry other scholar in the class. They's some talk bout gittin her to teach the first four grades next term on acct. of her being threw them.

Pearl is a turible great hand at singin and takes to it jist like a duck to water. Hits give up in our cammunity that Pearl has got one of the purtyest altory voices abody ever heerd. Course you might say she comes by it natcheral fer her mammy before her could sing longer and louder than arry female woman that ever opened up a hymnal. One thing bout Pearl, she's dreadful smart with her singin. She gits the jump on the rest of em and sorter gits a bar or two ahead of the otherns, claimin she can be heerd better thataway. Callin up the cows has more'n likely strenthened her voice, fer you take it on a good clear day when Pearl's at hersef and has got the wind with her, she can heerd plum acrost the river singin, "I keer not fer silver and gold" or "The Maiden stood in the gate and waved at the enjuneer" and hits a good mile acrost ther, the way a crow flys.

Pearl is good at might nigh any thing she turns her hand to. If hits choppin cotton, you can count on meetin her comin down the second row agin you git half way down the first un. When hit comes to fixin up fancy vittals fer company abody'd have to scour the woods to find her beat. She takend off the prize at the cake bakin last fall when they was gittin together means to send to the ferrin missiinairys, and at a box social her box allus fetches the top price lessin hits some young whippersnapper thats keerless with his means and pays a heep more'n his gurls box is worth so's to keep some other young feller thats ben castin sheep eyes at her from eatin with her. Yessir, Pearl will make some man a awful good companyon fer life and whilst she aint never took to bows to speak of, they's some mouth talk that her and Obediah Mackmillan is gittin turible thick with one another. They've been saw singin outa the same hyminal more'n once't and he's walked home from meetin with her fer two Sundays hand-runnin.

-From "Lum and Abner and Their Friends from Pine Ridge, By Themselves"