The Forrest City times., 1902-02-14


 brought the good sleighing of The preceding weeks to an unrlnely end. and the gray clouds seemed 10 D@ weeping over the calam- iiy. thereby augmentIng it's delorous- xess, as undue liquid lamenta tion has way Of doing. The old green and yellow stage -ssosly- had beer trans ferred from the raEn~rs on which Il had glided 50 cayiy oseF tAe4 smooth white road to The summer running gear" with broad-t.red ehocolafe-coi- ored wheels that labored along with snbdaed rattle and asthmatie ereaks- 1hroWiEg such protnse sp.o1ches and streaks of mud over the diDgy panels and cracked win oo7ys that even the steaax de~nPour was unequa. lo Asa thing them.
 B. the way. the unusual bulginess ot the old mail bag may have had some thing to do with d certain pheasant twinkle in The old stage drivers gray eyes, and he frequent wiistled snatches of Kathleen Mayourneen '' and "Black-EYed Susan" with which he shortened the tedious way nd helped himself to ignore the small but persistent rivulet that was trick ling down his back through the aper- ture .n the rear of his tarpauiin' $ brim.
 ! cannot say that the state of the mail bag was not responsible also for the pathetically hilarious flourish with which Romulus and Remus (fa- miliarly known as Rom" and keen ,. the wiry veterans who had drawn the old stage for II years, took the sharp ascent from the main road and drew up before the uapainted building that was village store and post office combined.
 Caleb Skipp, selec'ulan storekeeper and postmaster, came out in the lat ter capacity with a friendly salute
 ~keep yer settin'. Elb, I'll take out the mail. Git home an intew dry duds quick az ye ken. Sairy'H be on pins an needles till ye dew. Sho. now" (lifting the mail bag); "heavy, ain't it?"
 "Thank'ee, Gale. Heavy? Of course. Thirteenth O Febewary. ye know. Young folks will be young iolks-human natur' about the same as twas 10 year ago"
 'Jes' so. Dorry's been talkin' val'ntines all day"
 Guess she won't be disappintid. whoever else is," responded the old stage driver, with gallant touch of his tarpaulin in the direction of Dor " Skipp, whose rosy face just then appeared in the doorway. "G'laug. Rom. Git. Reem." and with pro- digious splash and chatter the stage disappeared around Wilkins Bend"
 A goodly number of the village young folk. we'll protected with wa terproofs, rubber coats and rubber boots, were already waiting for their mail around he rusty box stove.
 Owing 10 the one delivery a day, Meigs valentines always arrive on the afternoon of the 18th: for it would, Of course, be too much to expect that the Meigs boys and girls could wait antil the last part of the day itself.
 At last, amid much laughter and good-naiured teasing, the merry group dispersed and no reenforce- ments appeared, nor would they until later in the evening; for the Meigs supper hour had come, and of course the postmaster and his family wished 10 spend Il undisturbed. as we'll as other people. Mrs. Skipp was distrib- nting the remnant of mail; and Dick and Dorry, "the Skipp twins" oeeu- pied the long wooden settee and talked alternately about skating and valentines-saientines in general and valentines in particular
 Wall, now." suddenly calculated Nr. Skirp from behind the tiers of post office boxes. "Ef here ain't a letter fer old Miss Jerushy Dunlop!