Hutchinson gazette., 1900-04-12
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t HAIRCUT AT POssUM'WALK, /

Ills muir III BelIlnB boo Whbt ~
marked "grammaw," as her grandson
stood at the family looking glass
brushing his long locks. "Why don't
you cut IL for hlm?" asked Uncle Tom.
"0h, don't, grammaw," urged the boy
"Wait till can go down town and get
a real hair CUT Uncle Tom snigger-
ed. "Yes," he remarked, "l'm going
In TO have Wes Hampton shoe the
mules tomorrow, and John can go
along and get sheared." "What's the
barber's name, Uncle TOm?" cried the
boy, with vague feeling OF alarm at
the coupling OF the hair cut with the
shoemg Of the mules, Just then the
bnld-inced helfer dashed by the house
and In her wake came "Mnrt' Carr,
the hired man, In the following eX'
citement the boy forgot about the
trip 10 town and by the time the
milking was over he had thought up q
scheme 10 go after sand-hlll crnneH
with Ferris Satterlee the ncNt'dny,
Hut when he crawled into the high,
four-poSter bed that rose so close 10
% the rnftcrs in the farmhouse roof he
remembered that he was going 10 get
n hair cut the next day, and he won
dered what kind OF town Postum
Wap. wns, For II was there that
ewes" Hampton lived and ilourshcd,
aud for miles about he was celebrnl-
ed as u traveller, philosopher and mn
all-round wise man.
A boy hates his hair when he Is be-
ngnnniullU 4
curls, Johns hair curled and waved
all over his head and II fairly made
his flesh creep for his grandmother
or his ~nunts to stroke IL or call AT
tenton TO II. lie resented bitterly
the fact that II curled, lie plnstered
it down with soap and woternnd tried
to smother each rebellious twist, but
IL wns often too much for him and
would curl in spite Of time and trou-
BILE wasted in trying to flattcn II out
He welcomed the approaching sacri-
fee OF his hair, because the shorter II
was the less II waved and the ensier
II was to hide with n soft hat, II
was nll right for girl to have curly
hair, but for strhpping boy of 10 II
folk knew his weakness and with true
feminine malice would remark on Its
color and curly qualities, while Johns
cheeks would burn with shame and
rnge. What nice, straight hair some
boys had, he reflected, as he lay snug
gled up under the old-fnshioned com
forters. Just like hay, And nobody
to joke them about it, either,
In the morning John was out bright
and early, as become boy who had
slept like n dormouse for nino hours,
and he helped hitch up the mules for
the trip to town. The road lay along
the prairie several miles and the first
farm they passed was McCoy's, There
they met Oscar Mccoy just driving to
mill, and as usual with the man ami
nal in both town and country they
hauled up for talk.
"IIello Toni"
"IIello 0scar!"
"Goin' to Possum?"
"Yep!"
"Going to mill?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Whutch you git fer them pigs?" is
Oscars next remark, after the men
look cautiously at each other,
"Four and half" is Browns an.
swer.
"You goin' to Possum, too?" in.
quires Mccoy of the boy.
eyes, sir" replied John, "Tm going
to get my hair cut"
Mccoy smiled wolishly. "Youhain't
had it cut since you come, have YEP"
he said, rehectively.
"No, SIR replied the boy respect
fully,
"Well, Wes'll claw it Off fer ye in
some sorter way" limited Oscar CON
solingly as he "git-app'd' to his team
and left his neighbor,
IT'S the blacksmith going TO cut my
hair, Uncle Tom?" cried the boy, APP
pealingly.
"Yes, yes" said his uncle, renssur-
ingly, "and the barber will shoe the
mules, Don't you worry, my boy; he
will do good job, and you won't be
sorry for it, Wes is handy with the
shears ns he is with the sledgc He
can cut hair, cup and leach, shoe
horse, mend harness, cobble Shoes
tend store, preach, practice law, teach
school, and make pretty good suit
of clothes, He is what we call an
ever-which-way man. Johns heart
sunk within him, Notwithstanding his
uncle's praise of the oracle. He had
seen some specimens of country hair
cuts that looked like hurried scalp
ings with a dull scalping knife But
a homemade hair cut wus more ter
rible to him, and he set his teeth and
resolved to grin and bear It, Through
the timber the team went and over
a ridge, and after few more miles
scattered growth of sickly looking
trees by the rond and some small
buildings here and there among them
caused his uncle to point forward
with his whip and say, "Possum." A
hnlf-mile farther on they drew up TO
a htching post, sngged over and di-
lapidated, to which the mules were
securely haltercd. John jumped out
OF the wagon and looked around. Be
fore his vision loomed the town of
Possum Walk.
The general store and postofIice, a
squat weathcrbeaten frame struc-
ture, fIankcd one side Of the street.
Opposite was the harness shop and
near nv thp blopl smith uhn,, A da