Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-07-16

I
god of him, and he soon felt himself
| being suffocated with an excess of affec-
/ ton. He neither went out nor came in,
never coughed or sneezed, without
! putting all three ladies into more or less
excitement. They pampered him with
| food, fused over his linen and other
garments, satiated him with petty pet
tings, until his life was burden. After
two months of it, he had to go to Harris
burg on business, and this little sniff Of
| freedom brought back the charms of a
Bohemian life and he did not return
He wrote them from different places.
but never waited to hear from them.
and now over two years had passed since
he had written at all.
suggested that he go back to them,
and he at once asserted with great We
hemence that if that baby was boy he
would go back; if it was girl he would
go right away to China or India, and
never allow them to hear of him again
In Mr.. Murray's opinion a household
made up Of three women and one man
was too uneven. He was too much in
minority. He said that he seemed to be
cut off from companionship, and wanted
! nothing in the world so much as male
friend and the society of gentlemen.
He said if that child was a boy he
would not feel so much alone and so
lonesome; the women could not smother
him entirely; that he and the boy would
soon conspire and confederate for mutual
comfort and protection.
Unfortunately could not tell him the
sex of the child, but promised, without
disclosing the fact that I had met him,
to get the baby's gender, and let him
know. When l took leave he said that
he understood that he had been charged
with theft of bonds and money. ''You
tell Aunt Sue," said he, ''that the stuff
is in Mr.. Lockhart's safe in his store
where she told me to leave it. 1 may
have omitted to mention this to her."
| l wrote to Miss Timberlake when l re-
turned home, and the baby proved to be
a boy, which fact | communicated to
Mr.. Myers at Puckaway. He replied,
giving me leave to write again to Aunt
Sue to say that he was coming home;
and in my letter to her l ventured to
hint that if she and Mrs. Seymour would
expend tho wealth of their affections in
one house, on each other, and let Mr.,
and Mrs. Murray and the boy occupy q
mansion to themselves, there would be
F.! no further separations. | knew that
Murray would soon make a genteel Be-
hemian out of the boy, and the two
would make up working majority.
In 1880 | got the "oil fever" and in
vested some money of my own and more
for other people in petroleum in Penn
sylvania. | spent some time in going
over the field from Bradford, Pa, to
Richburg, n. Y, and at Duke Center.
Pa, had quite extensive operations.
One day at the little tavern in Duke
Center who should come swinging in but
Murray, alias Myers. He had grown so
much stouter that he was not mistaken
for me, nor [ for him; but he knew me
instantly, and when l asked, "How is
Aunt Sue? and how is the boy?" the fell
low smiled to his full capacity. He as
sured me that Aunt Sue was sound to
the core; that the boy was a ''gusher,"
and so was his little brother.
"Then," said |, ''you are no longer in
a hopeless minority"
"No, SIR" answered he, with the en-
phasis of dr;ller; "Aunt Sue and Mother
Seymour don't count, and we are three
to one now"
800 you never reflect" asked, chat
that second boy may not just as we'll
have been mine? When [ was taken to
be the father of the first one, [ was as
footloose as 4 cowboy, and | could have
gone right into the house and been its
hero, as long as l did not expose my left
side, and perhaps | should have been
there yet"
"What ails your left side?" he asked.
Nothing" | said. "Only that l have
no mark there, and you have-that
would have given me away"
"Well! we'll! well!' he 1nuttered in a
musing way, the old COW that gored
me when | was a child and was the
same day killed for her viciousness may
after all have marked me for good luck.
But you must come to Angelica and see
US all together"
assured him that should be glad to
do so, but was not able then to spare
the time, aud visit to the Murrays is
still one of the pleasures which [ hope to
enjoy in the future-perhaps in my next
summers vacation.-Amos Flint in Gin
cinnati Gazette.