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The Clarkes' raised ducks and geese on their farm. Once when Martha was a little girl, one of the goslings died. Cousin Mable (Swearingin) was visiting and she, Martha and Clyde, decided they must have a proper funeral.
Martha went into the house and neaked out one of Ma's silk cushion tops to wrap it in. They dug a hole by an apple tree and laid the silk-robed gosling in the hole, but their funeral service was quite complete without mourners.
They rounded up the ducks and geese and herded them into a small space in a fence corner, which caused them to honk and quack loudly. Martha and Mable were quite pleased to have their mourners "crying" so loudly, but unfortunately for the girls it brought Ma to see what was causing so much confusion.
Mable hollered and said, "Aunt Laura, our duck died and we're having a funeral and that's waht they're crying about.." The girls funeral came to rather an abrupt halt when Ma arrived on the scene and made the girls release their captive mourners.