Horace came into the house that cold winter evening wearing a scowl instead of his normally pleasant expression. He set a fresh pail of milk next to the old farm sink in the kitchen. A gray haired woman hovered over the stove, stirring something in an iron pot.
Whats the matter, dear? asked Edna, his wife of nearly forty years.
Well, I lost my knife. I was cutting the twine on some bales and I must have dropped it somewhere in the barn. I thought it was in my overalls, but the next time I went to pull it out, it wasnt there. Ive been looking for it for the last half-hour.
Oh, thats too bad dear. Go and wash up for supper now.
And so, even though he looked for several days, he couldnt find his prized possession, a fine Camillus brand jack knife with shiny blades and bolsters. He had paid 25 cents for it just last summer when they had gone into the city, and now he would have to buy a replacement out of the milk and egg money. Edna would not want to part with that money, as she had planned on buying material for a new house- dress.
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Horace was enjoying a beautiful spring afternoon as he struggled along behind the disking plow. Haw! he yelled at Briscoe, the old Percheron gelding. Haw, gol durnit he hollered again. At the end of the row, he stopped and cut himself a plug with his brand new Camillus jack knife, a replacement for the one hed lost months before. Forgotten now, was the knife hed lost last winter.
As daylight faded, he unhitched the disk and headed toward the barn with the big animal. After stabling the horse, he again took out his new pocket knife and cut the twine on a bale of alfalfa. He forked a measure into Briscoes feed bin, and as fate would have it, he kicked something hard when he moved, and when he looked down he discovered the long lost knife! Quickly he bent and scooped it into his hands, but something wasnt right. The frame was bent and a chunk of bone was missing from the handle. musta stepped on it he thought. The time lost hadnt been kind to the unprotected knife, and it was dirty and rusty. Damn! he said out loud.
He showed the recovered knife to his wife that evening and told her how hed found it. Disgusted with the damage, he tossed it into the drawer of his bureau and promptly forgot about it.
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Years later when Horace and Ednas great grandson was going through his late fathers belongings, he came upon an old knife. It was dirty, rusty and bent, and since he had a modern assisted opening pocket knife made of stainless steel and G-10, he had little use for the old relic and so threw it in a box with the other stuff going to auction.
And that is how it came into my possession. Much more than an ordinary pocket knife, but a living piece of American history, I am proud to be the present curator.
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This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people is unintentional.
