Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-08-27
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MIS- HITS HUSBANDS.

Ihe young ScnOOlmdStef VINO PRESIDED our.
ing the spring term over the seventeen bare
footed children Of District No. 10. East
Centreville, johnson county, did not find the
social element Of the nsighborhood congenial
There was no Lack Of society and social
gayeties The schoolmaster had attended q
surprise party, warm sugar party and 80
ciable" during the first week Of his residence
in District No 10; he had been stared
at by red-handed, hair-oiled, tongue-tied
youths; danced several Virginia reels to the
tune of "Pop Goss Tie Weasel, |" rendered on .
shrieking fiddle OF a hoarse melodeon; been
kissed by scores Of buxom girls in innumer-
able osculatory games; and bad since re-
Trained from Eax Centreville festivities with
sternness which had been looked upon as
stuck up,n and which may, indeed, have
been due in some degree to that complacent
self-esteem in which young schoolmasters are
not usually deficient
He was fond Of entertainment, however;
and being thus thrown back upon himself, its
chances seemed small The comfortable old
couple who boarded him were meek, indus
trious, deserving and commonplace, and he
was not hopeful Of discovering anything
more exciting in District No. TO- He was
reused to mild interest, therefore, when he
found the -settin' room" one morning, in the
possession Of an odd and somewhat startling
old woman.
She was whitewashing the ceiling. She
stood On top Of a stepladder, and covered its
cracked and yellowish surface with long
strokes of her stubby brush. She wore a
bright new calico dress with Il short skirt
which exposed her heavy masculine boots.
Her hair, which was gray and scanty, was
drawn back over frequent patches of bald
ness and fastened in candid knot of the size
of hickory-nut. Her face was brown and
wrinkled with bright eyes, and she held q
pipe between her lips
The schoolmaster inquired concerning her
as he sugared his lettuce at the breakfast
table; sugar and vinegar were the approved
salad dressing at East Centreville.
That's Mis- HIT" his hostess rejoined.
"She kind of jobs around-lays carpets and
whitewashes and papers and helps houseclean-
in times She's master hand, Mis- Hit is.
Miss Hitt-she is unmarried, Them said
the schoolmaster.
Law" the old lady responded, while faint
blush stole into her faded cheeks; she's ben
married four times. Hit" she added, scrupu-
lously. want her last husband; but we didn't
never git into the way O calm her Mis- Doty.
It don't make no odds, as know of-Doty,
he's dead"
A week later the schoolmaster, who had
conceived a liking for the outdoor aspects Of
District No. 10, wandering in the dusk OF the
evening through an empty pasture lot which
copous spring rains had developed into
swamp. came suddenly upon a small red
wooden building set into the corner of the
pasture and backed by piece of woods Its
unstable appearance, produced by the piles of
stones upon which its four corners rested and
its several props, made it obvious tn, it had
been moved hither from its native SPOT, where
it might have been a corn or hen house. In a
chair in the open doorway, leaning forward
on her elbows and smoking, was Mis- Hit.
The schoolmaster went nearer and raised
his hat The Old woman took her pipe from
her mouth and eyed him with a feeting sus-
picion: then she got up and showed her chair
back Hospitality.
The schoomaster stepped inside and sat
down on an anonymous object near the door,
while his entertainer lighted her lamp.
Its light showed a cramped interior OF one
room. The walls were covered with news
papers tackled up; an unreasonable stove re-
tanned its place, for lack of other refuge. There
were q few attempts at adornment. which
the hardened fingers and belated tastes of the
inventor had not served to render successful.
key. whose hardness was not helped by its
frill of brown cambria.
Mis- Hit, from the one chair Of the room,
looked at her caller over her pipe with no visi-
bic curiosity.
Saw We tother day." she observed
"Teachin' here, amt yer And when the
schoolmaster assented, relapsed into silence
with a nod.
You are pleasantly situated" the school,
master ventured, looking out somewhat
doubtfully over the shadowy pasture lot.
Il don't know as l be- said Mis- Hit, apa-
thetically. Il git along"
The schoolmaster made second and q
holder attempt.
Il have lately received the news OF the
death of-of an aunt he remarked 1T Is
exceedingly sad to lose ones friends. is it
not? But, perhaps-very possibly-you have
had no experience Of the sort!'
Mis- Hit removed her pipe, with a face
wholly unsuspicious Her eyes shone in lis
darkened and withered surface with sud-
denly increased brightness.
I've buried four husbands" she said. Her
expression was mixture Of solemnity and
excusable pride
All" the schoolmaster murnured. The
great consolation for death, he continued,
lis the remembrance of the fehcitous hours
passed with the deceased. Your married life
-lives-were happy, were they not"
wal. | dom know said Mis- Hit She
crossed her knees and clasped her knotty
hands around them. Il didn't have such
powerful good luck gittin husbands"
"Indeed!" said the schoolmaster. "One
might Judge, from casual view, that You
had been highly successful"
Mis- Hits seriousness did not alter. Ap-
parently joke was not in the line OF her
comprehension.
Thar want none o my men what ye
might call likely" she said, without disturb
auce from the recollection Of her time-soft
ened troubles. They was a pretty Urinary
set, call I'm.
She pulled away in silent rumination.
Your first husband, for example," the
schoolrnaster suggested.
Wal. he want much - Ike Hayward
want" the old woman responded Her eyes
v re fixed unseemingly on the blank stretch
Ct sodden land: her face was intent with the
ABSORPTION Of Renaissance. Il was nigh on
to Is when I married Ike, and Ike, he was
somewar' round 20 hadn't been calculatin
to marry Ike Hayward; want lookin to q
week aforehand I'd had it fixed up with
'RaStus Carter for consid'able spell; we'd
cot the ,;ay sot, and Rastsis, he'd spoke TO the
preacher. | DON know as / recollect jest
what spilled il: 'Rastus. he iared up at some
thin er mother: consid' able techy. RaStus
was-sandy- topped, freckly folks most gen
ALLY be. Wal. | didn't git him. said Mis-
rI:.. ,-;~l,.a,,;utv the howl of her pine with 8