Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-07-26
.TH f.
THE
Errald H0lato Forgot.
BY ANNIE HAMILTON poNNELL.

'Him- Horatio Mixer = married
No, he hasn't ever been, quite!"
''Quite married."
eyes, not quite"
Lucretia adjuste1 her sewing
glasses and sorted out two or three
patchwork squares. The suggestions
of a story were in her face. Then she
was rocking gently, and the rocker
gave forth it's familiar creak which
was suggestion, too When Lucre-
tia's chair creaked il that way, her
hearers settled into their chairs and
waited. 1t was only a matter OF wait
ing
''Well, there's them that are absent
minded and there's them that are alb
sent-minded," Lucretia said. 81 sup
pose you've noticed that? Horatio
Mixers the lattermost kind land,
yes! l have not been to the North
Pole nor to the South Pole, but if /
had We, I shouldn't ever have run
across his equal anywhere on the way
not for abse bsent-mindedness.
She tried pink triangle with the
chocolate and then a blue one.
Neither exactly met her ideas of har-
mony, and finally, with sigh, she
substituted vivid green.
''Yes?" some one said, suggestively.
s'He was never entirely married, you
said, Lucretia?"
''The green'll do" she decided, and
then returned to her story. mo, but
he got pretty near it-as near as the
postoffice!"
The creaking waxed little trem-
ulous, as if the chair were laughing
with Lucretia OF course every one
else was. There was something con-
tagious in Lpcretia's silent mirth
''To this day haven'tgot over itr'
she gasped. ''Nor 1 guess Cicely
Cove hasn't-nor Horatio. He hasn' t
been TO the postoffice since. My little
Jerry gets his mail"
She threaded her needle slowly.
"Poor Horatio" she smiled. "No,
he hasn't been since he came so near
getting married. Land, yes, sup
pose might as we'll up and tell the
whole story! I've got Your appetites
whetted upr'
81 should say SO! Mines as sharp
as Uncle Nehemi' Castles scythe"
Polemia Dunn exclaimed
This vas neighborhood pleasan-
try, bait Lucretia's mind was on
Horatio's 8 narrow escape from matri.
mony, and she let it slip by unappre-
ciated.
'tIt was this way: nobody but
Hovatio Mixer could We done it.
Land, no! But Horatios equal to
anything absent-minded under the
tight of the moon! He and Cicely
concluded to get to the parsons aud
get spllced. Cicely'd got all her fix
ings ready. and there didn't seem any
use putting it off any longer. So
Horatio harnessed up. 1t was good
two miles to the parsons. They
started along about two o'clock, so as
to get there betwixt hay and grass, so
to speak"
"Wsll? Well, Lucretia?"
"Twarn't we'll, chuckled Lucretia,
unfeelingly. "Horatio's unlucky star
cose early that day and scared!
calculate twas right up overhead by
the time they got to the posto tfice.
Cicely said she guessed they might as
we'll stop and get the mail-pool
Cicely twas weekly paper day.
So Horatio went in and shut the door
of matrimony behind him. Cicely
heard it slam, but she didn't realize
what it meant. She set out there
holding Horatio's horse and waiting.
She waited two mortal hours!'
sT,ucretiav'
observation-disclosures. Then Cicely
she climbed over the wheel and went
home. The horse kept on waiting
land, he'd have waited till crack o
doomsday! He was acquainted will
Horatio."
4'But Horatio, Lucretia?"
<'Horatio? That's what say! WE'LL
you see he'd run across Hannibal Bin
ney, and that reminded him O
Hanuibal's yoke of steers. He'd beer
planning, off and on, to swap hi
moving machine for them. They go
arguing, and argued themselves out o
the back door, across lots, to Hanni
balls. 1t was two hours or so late
that Horatio came back, towing th,
steers. He hitched them on behint
his wagon and climbed in, as self-con
graduating as you please. He wa
real tickled.
''Some of the neighbors were ou
on the lounging seats, and they sprea
it round what Horatio did next !
made good story, after they'd foun
out about Cicelv. Horatio took u