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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10123 ***
+
+AUNT JANE'S NIECES
+
+By
+
+EDITH VAN DYNE
+
+1906
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A LIST OF CHAPTERS
+
+
+  CHAPTER
+
+       I  BETH RECEIVES AN INVITATION
+	   
+      II  MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
+	  
+     III  PATSY
+	 
+      IV  LOUISE MAKES A DISCOVERY
+	  
+       V  AUNT JANE
+	   
+      VI  THE BOY
+	  
+     VII  THE FIRST WARNING
+	 
+    VIII  THE DIPLOMAT
+	
+      IX  COUSINS
+	  
+       X  THE MAN WITH THE BUNDLE
+	   
+      XI  THE MAD GARDENER
+	  
+     XII  UNCLE JOHN GETS ACQUAINTED
+	 
+    XIII  THE OTHER NIECE
+	
+     XIV  KENNETH IS FRIGHTENED
+	 
+      XV  PATSY MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT
+	  
+     XVI  GOOD RESULTS
+	 
+    XVII  AUNT JANE'S HEIRESS
+	
+   XVIII  PATRICIA SPEAKS FRANKLY
+   
+      XIX  DUPLICITY
+	  
+      XX  IN THE GARDEN
+	  
+     XXI  READING THE WILL
+	 
+    XXII  JAMES TELLS A STRANGE STORY
+	
+   XXIII  PATSY ADOPTS AN UNCLE
+   
+    XXIV  HOME AGAIN
+	
+     XXV  UNCLE JOHN ACTS QUEERLY
+	 
+    XXVI  A BUNCH OF KEYS
+	
+   XXVII  LOUISE MAKES A DISCOVERY
+   
+  XXVIII  PATSY LOSES HER JOB
+
+    XXIX  THE MAJOR DEMANDS AN EXPLANATION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+BETH RECEIVES AN INVITATION.
+
+
+Professor De Graf was sorting the mail at the breakfast table.
+
+"Here's a letter for you, Beth," said he, and tossed it across the
+cloth to where his daughter sat.
+
+The girl raised her eyebrows, expressing surprise. It was something
+unusual for her to receive a letter. She picked up the square envelope
+between a finger and thumb and carefully read the inscription, "Miss
+Elizabeth De Graf, Cloverton, Ohio." Turning the envelope she found on
+the reverse flap a curious armorial emblem, with the word "Elmhurst."
+
+Then she glanced at her father, her eyes big and somewhat startled
+in expression. The Professor was deeply engrossed in a letter from
+Benjamin Lowenstein which declared that a certain note must be paid at
+maturity. His weak, watery blue eyes stared rather blankly from behind
+the gold-rimmed spectacles. His flat nostrils extended and compressed
+like those of a frightened horse; and the indecisive mouth was
+tremulous. At the best the Professor was not an imposing personage.
+He wore a dressing-gown of soiled quilted silk and linen not too
+immaculate; but his little sandy moustache and the goatee that
+decorated his receding chin were both carefully waxed into sharp
+points--an indication that he possessed at least one vanity. Three
+days in the week he taught vocal and instrumental music to the
+ambitious young ladies of Cloverton. The other three days he rode to
+Pelham's Grove, ten miles away, and taught music to all who wished to
+acquire that desirable accomplishment. But the towns were small and
+the fees not large, so that Professor De Graf had much difficulty in
+securing an income sufficient for the needs of his family.
+
+The stout, sour-visaged lady who was half-hidden by her newspaper at
+the other end of the table was also a bread-winner, for she taught
+embroidery to the women of her acquaintance and made various articles
+of fancy-work that were sold at Biggar's Emporium, the largest store
+in Cloverton. So, between them, the Professor and Mrs. DeGraf managed
+to defray ordinary expenses and keep Elizabeth at school; but there
+were one or two dreadful "notes" that were constantly hanging over
+their heads like the sword of Damocles, threatening to ruin them at
+any moment their creditors proved obdurate.
+
+Finding her father and mother both occupied, the girl ventured to open
+her letter. It was written in a sharp, angular, feminine hand and read
+as follows:
+
+"My Dear Niece: It will please me to have you spend the months of July
+and August as my guest at Elmhurst. I am in miserable health, and
+wish to become better acquainted with you before I die. A check for
+necessary expenses is enclosed and I shall expect you to arrive
+promptly on the first of July.
+
+"Your Aunt,
+
+"JANE MERRICK."
+
+A low exclamation from Elizabeth caused her father to look in her
+direction. He saw the bank check lying beside her plate and the sight
+lent an eager thrill to his voice.
+
+"What is it, Beth?"
+
+"A letter from Aunt Jane."
+
+Mrs. De Graf gave a jump and crushed the newspaper into her lap.
+
+"What!" she screamed.
+
+"Aunt Jane has invited me to spend two months at Elmhurst" said
+Elizabeth, and passed the letter to her mother, who grabbed it
+excitedly.
+
+"How big is the check, Beth?" enquired the Professor, in a low tone.
+
+"A hundred dollars. She says it's for my expenses.
+
+"Huh! Of course you won't go near that dreadful old cat, so we can use
+the money to better advantage."
+
+"Adolph!"
+
+The harsh, cutting voice was that of his wife, and the Professor
+shrank back in his chair.
+
+"Your sister Jane is a mean, selfish, despicable old female," he
+muttered. "You've said so a thousand times yourself, Julia."
+
+"My sister Jane is a very wealthy woman, and she's a Merrick,"
+returned the lady, severely. "How dare you--a common De Graf--asperse
+her character?"
+
+"The De Grafs are a very good family," he retorted.
+
+"Show me one who is wealthy! Show me one who is famous!"
+
+"I can't," said the Professor. "But they're decent, and they're
+generous, which is more than can be said for your tribe."
+
+"Elizabeth must go to Elmhurst," said Mrs. De Graf, ignoring her
+husband's taunt.
+
+"She shan't. Your sister refused to loan me fifty dollars last year,
+when I was in great trouble. She hasn't given you a single cent since
+I married you. No daughter of mine shall go In Elmhurst to be bullied
+and insulted by Jane Merrick."
+
+"Adolph, try to conceal the fact that you're a fool," said his wife.
+"Jane is in a desperate state of health, and can't live very long at
+the best. I believe she's decided to leave her money to Elizabeth, or
+she never would have invited the child to visit her. Do you want to
+fly in the face of Providence, you doddering old imbecile?"
+
+"No," said the Professor, accepting the doubtful appellation without a
+blush. "How much do you suppose Jane is worth?"
+
+"A half million, at the very least. When she was a girl she inherited
+from Thomas Bradley, the man she was engaged to marry, and who was
+suddenly killed in a railway accident, more than a quarter of a
+million dollars, besides that beautiful estate of Elmhurst. I don't
+believe Jane has even spent a quarter of her income, and the fortune
+must have increased enormously. Elizabeth will be one of the
+wealthiest heiresses in the country!"
+
+"If she gets the money, which I doubt," returned the Professor,
+gloomily.
+
+"Why should you doubt it, after this letter?"
+
+"You had another sister and a brother, and they both had children,"
+said he.
+
+"They each left a girl. I admit. But Jane has never favored them
+any more than she has me. And this invitation, coming; when Jane is
+practically on her death bed, is a warrant that Beth will get the
+money."
+
+"I hope she will," sighed the music teacher. "We all need it bad
+enough, I'm sure."
+
+During this conversation Elizabeth, who might be supposed the one most
+interested in her Aunt's invitation, sat silently at her place, eating
+her breakfast with her accustomed calmness of demeanor and scarcely
+glancing at her parents.
+
+She had pleasant and quite regular features, for a girl of fifteen,
+with dark hair and eyes--the "Merrick eyes," her mother proudly
+declared--and a complexion denoting perfect health and colored with
+the rosy tints of youth. Her figure was a bit slim and unformed,
+and her shoulders stooped a little more than was desirable; but in
+Cloverton Elizabeth had the reputation of being "a pretty girl," and a
+sullen and unresponsive one as well.
+
+Presently she rose from her seat, glanced at the clock, and then went
+into the hall to get her hat and school-books. The prospect of being
+an heiress some day had no present bearing on the fact that it was
+time to start for school.
+
+Her father came to the door with the check in his hand.
+
+"Just sign your name on the back of this, Beth," said he, "and I'll
+get it cashed for you."
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"No, father," she answered. "If I decide to go to Aunt Jane's I must
+buy some clothes; and if you get the money I'll never see a cent of
+it."
+
+"When will you decide?" he asked.
+
+"There's no hurry. I'll take time to think it over," she replied. "I
+hate Aunt Jane, of course; so if I go to her I must be a hypocrite,
+and pretend to like her, or she never will leave me her property.
+
+"Well, Beth?"
+
+"Perhaps it will be worth while; but if I go into that woman's house
+I'll be acting a living lie."
+
+"But think of the money!" said her mother.
+
+"I do think of it. That's why I didn't tell you at once to send the
+check back to Aunt Jane. I'm going to think of everything before I
+decide. But if I go--if I allow this money to make me a hypocrite--I
+won't stop at trifles, I assure you. It's in my nature to be
+dreadfully wicked and cruel and selfish, and perhaps the money isn't
+worth the risk I run of becoming depraved."
+
+"Elizabeth!"
+
+"Good-bye; I'm late now," she continued, in the same quiet tone, and
+walked slowly down the walk.
+
+The Professor twisted his moustache and looked into his wife's eyes
+with a half frightened glance.
+
+"Beth's a mighty queer girl," he muttered.
+
+"She's very like her Aunt Jane," returned Mrs. De Graf, thoughtfully
+gazing after her daughter. "But she's defiant and wilful enough for
+all the Merricks put together. I do hope she'll decide to go to
+Elmhurst."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
+
+
+In the cosy chamber of an apartment located in a fashionable quarter
+of New York Louise Merrick reclined upon a couch, dressed in a
+dainty morning gown and propped and supported by a dozen embroidered
+cushions.
+
+Upon a taboret beside her stood a box of bonbons, the contents of
+which she occasionally nibbled as she turned the pages of her novel.
+
+The girl had a pleasant and attractive face, although its listless
+expression was singular in one so young. It led you to suspect that
+the short seventeen years of her life had robbed her of all the
+anticipation and eagerness that is accustomed to pulse in strong young
+blood, and filled her with experiences that compelled her to accept
+existence in a half bored and wholly matter-of-fact way.
+
+The room was tastefully though somewhat elaborately furnished; yet
+everything in it seemed as fresh and new as if it had just come from
+the shop--which was not far from the truth. The apartment itself
+was new, with highly polished floors and woodwork, and decorations
+undimmed by time. Even the girl's robe, which she wore so gracefully,
+was new, and the books upon the center-table were of the latest
+editions.
+
+The portiere was thrust aside and an elderly lady entered the room,
+seating herself quietly at the window, and, after a single glance at
+the form upon the couch, beginning to embroider patiently upon some
+work she took from a silken bag. She moved so noiselessly that the
+girl did not hear her and for several minutes absolute silence
+pervaded the room.
+
+Then, however, Louise in turning a leaf glanced up and saw the head
+bent over the embroidery. She laid down her book and drew an open
+letter from between the cushions beside her, which she languidly
+tossed into the other's lap.
+
+"Who is this woman, mamma?" she asked.
+
+Mrs. Merrick glanced at the letter and then read it carefully through,
+before replying.
+
+"Jane Merrick is your father's sister," she said, at last, as she
+thoughtfully folded the letter and placed it upon the table.
+
+"Why have I never heard of her before?" enquired the girl, with a
+slight accession of interest in her tones.
+
+"That I cannot well explain. I had supposed you knew of your poor
+father's sister Jane, although you were so young when he died that it
+is possible he never mentioned her name in your presence."
+
+"They were not on friendly terms, you know. Jane was rich, having
+inherited a fortune and a handsome country place from a young man whom
+she was engaged to marry, but who died on the eve of his wedding day."
+
+"How romantic!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"It does seem romantic, related in this way," replied her mother. "But
+with the inheritance all romance disappeared from your aunt's life.
+She became a crabbed, disagreeable woman, old before her time and
+friendless because she suspected everyone of trying to rob her of her
+money. Your poor father applied to her in vain for assistance, and I
+believe her refusal positively shortened his life. When he died, after
+struggling bravely to succeed in his business, he left nothing but his
+life-insurance."
+
+"Thank heaven he left that!" sighed Louise.
+
+"Yes; we would have been beggared, indeed, without it," agreed Mrs.
+Merrick. "Yet I often wonder, Louise, how we managed to live upon the
+interest of that money for so many years."
+
+"We didn't live--we existed," corrected the girl, yawning. "We
+scrimped and pinched, and denied ourselves everything but bare
+necessities. And had it not been for your brilliant idea, mater dear,
+we would still be struggling in the depths of poverty."
+
+Mrs. Merrick frowned, and leaned back in her chair.
+
+"I sometimes doubt if the idea was so brilliant, after all," she
+returned, with a certain grimness of expression. "We're plunging,
+Louise; and it may be into a bottomless pit."
+
+"Don't worry, dear," said the girl, biting into a bonbon. "We are
+only on the verge of our great adventure, and there's no reason to
+be discouraged yet, I assure you. Brilliant! Of course the idea
+was brilliant, mamma. The income of that insurance money was
+insignificant, but the capital is a very respectable sum. I am just
+seventeen years of age--although I feel that I ought to be thirty, at
+the least--and in three years I shall be twenty, and a married woman.
+You decided to divide our capital into three equal parts, and spend a
+third of it each year, this plan enabling us to live in good style and
+to acquire a certain social standing that will allow me to select a
+wealthy husband. It's a very brilliant idea, my dear! Three years is a
+long time. I'll find my Croesus long before that, never fear."
+
+"You ought to," returned the mother, thoughtfully. "But if you fail,
+we shall be entirely ruined."
+
+"A strong incentive to succeed." said Louise, smiling. "An ordinary
+girl might not win out; but I've had my taste of poverty, and I don't
+like it. No one will suspect us of being adventurers, for as long as
+we live in this luxurious fashion we shall pay our bills promptly and
+be proper and respectable in every way. The only chance we run lies in
+the danger that eligible young men may prove shy, and refuse to take
+our bait; but are we not diplomats, mother dear? We won't despise a
+millionaire, but will be content with a man who can support us in good
+style, or even in comfort, and in return for his money I'll be a very
+good wife to him. That seems sensible and wise, I'm sure, and not at
+all difficult of accomplishment."
+
+Mrs. Merrick stared silently out of the window, and for a few moments
+seemed lost in thought.
+
+"I think, Louise," she said at last, "you will do well to cultivate
+your rich aunt, and so have two strings to your bow."
+
+"You mean that I should accept her queer invitation to visit her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She has sent me a check for a hundred dollars. Isn't it funny?"
+
+"Jane was always a whimsical woman. Perhaps she thinks we are quite
+destitute, and fears you would not be able to present a respectable
+appearance at Elmhurst without this assistance. But it is an evidence
+of her good intentions. Finding death near at hand she is obliged to
+select an heir, and so invites you to visit her that she may study
+your character and determine whether you are worthy to inherit her
+fortune."
+
+The girl laughed, lightly.
+
+"It will be easy to cajole the old lady," she said. "In two days I can
+so win her heart that she will regret she has neglected me so long."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"If I get her money we will change our plans, and abandon the
+adventure we were forced to undertake. But if, for any reason, that
+plan goes awry, we can fall back upon this prettily conceived scheme
+which we have undertaken. As you say, it is well to have two strings
+to one's bow; and during July and August everyone will be out of town,
+and so we shall lose no valuable time."
+
+Mrs. Merrick did not reply. She stitched away in a methodical manner,
+as if abstracted, and Louise crossed her delicate hands behind her
+head and gazed at her mother reflectively. Presently she said:
+
+"Tell me more of my father's family. Is this rich aunt of mine the
+only relative he had?"
+
+"No, indeed. There were two other sisters and a brother--a very
+uninteresting lot, with the exception, of your poor father. The eldest
+was John Merrick, a common tinsmith, if I remember rightly, who went
+into the far west many years ago and probably died there, for he was
+never heard from. Then came Jane, who in her young days had some
+slight claim to beauty. Anyway, she won the heart of Thomas Bradley,
+the wealthy young man I referred to, and she must have been clever to
+have induced him to leave her his money. Your father was a year or so
+younger than Jane, and after him came Julia, a coarse and
+disagreeable creature who married a music-teacher and settled in some
+out-of-the-way country town. Once, while your father was alive, she
+visited us for a few days, with her baby daughter, and nearly drove us
+all crazy. Perhaps she did not find us very hospitable, for we were
+too poor to entertain lavishly. Anyway, she went away suddenly after
+you had a fight with her child and nearly pulled its hair out by the
+roots, and I have never heard of her since."
+
+"A daughter, eh," said Louise, musingly. "Then this rich Aunt Jane has
+another niece besides myself."
+
+"Perhaps two," returned Mrs. Merrick; "for her youngest sister, who
+was named Violet, married a vagabond Irishman and had a daughter
+about a year younger than you. The mother died, but whether the child
+survived her or not I have never learned."
+
+"What was her name?" asked Louise.
+
+"I cannot remember. But it is unimportant. You are the only Merrick of
+them all, and that is doubtless the reason Jane has sent for you."
+
+The girl shook her blonde head.
+
+"I don't like it," she observed.
+
+"Don't like what?"
+
+"All this string of relations. It complicates matters."
+
+Mrs. Merrick seemed annoyed.
+
+"If you fear your own persuasive powers," she said, with almost a
+sneer in her tones, "you'd better not go to Elmhurst. One or the
+other of your country cousins might supplant you in your dear aunt's
+affections."
+
+The girl yawned and took up her neglected novel.
+
+"Nevertheless, mater dear," she said briefly, "I shall go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PATSY.
+
+
+"Now, Major, stand up straight and behave yourself! How do you expect
+me to sponge your vest when you're wriggling around in that way?"
+
+"Patsy, dear, you're so sweet this evening, I just had to kiss your
+lips."
+
+"Don't do it again, sir," replied Patricia, severely, as she scrubbed
+the big man's waistcoat with a damp cloth. "And tell me, Major, how
+you ever happened to get into such a disgraceful condition."
+
+"The soup just shpilled," said the Major, meekly.
+
+Patricia laughed merrily. She was a tiny thing, appearing to be no
+more than twelve years old, although in reality she was sixteen. Her
+hair was a decided red--not a beautiful "auburn," but really red--and
+her round face was badly freckled. Her nose was too small and her
+mouth too wide to be beautiful, but the girl's wonderful blue eyes
+fully redeemed these faults and led the observer to forget all else
+but their fascinations. They could really dance, these eyes, and send
+out magnetic, scintillating sparks of joy and laughter that were
+potent to draw a smile from the sourest visage they smiled upon.
+Patricia was a favorite with all who knew her, but the big,
+white-moustached Major Doyle, her father, positively worshipped her,
+and let the girl rule him as her fancy dictated.
+
+"Now, sir, you're fairly decent again," she said, after a few vigorous
+scrubs. "So put on your hat and we'll go out to dinner."
+
+They occupied two small rooms at the top of a respectable but
+middle-class tenement building, and had to descend innumerable flights
+of bare wooden stairs before they emerged upon a narrow street
+thronged with people of all sorts and descriptions except those who
+were too far removed from the atmosphere of Duggan street to know that
+it existed.
+
+The big major walked stiffly and pompously along, swinging his
+silver-trimmed cane in one hand while Patricia clung to his other arm.
+The child wore a plain grey cloak, for the evening was chill. She had
+a knack of making her own clothes, all of simple material and fashion,
+but fitting neatly and giving her an air of quiet refinement that made
+more than one passer-by turn to look back at her curiously.
+
+After threading their way for several blocks they turned in at the
+open door of an unobtrusive restaurant where many of the round white
+tables were occupied by busy and silent patrons.
+
+The proprietor nodded to the major and gave Patricia a smile. There
+was no need to seat them, for they found the little table in the
+corner where they were accustomed to eat, and sat down.
+
+"Did you get paid tonight?" asked the girl.
+
+"To be sure, my Patsy."
+
+"Then hand over the coin," she commanded.
+
+The major obeyed. She counted it carefully and placed it in her
+pocketbook, afterwards passing a half-dollar back to her father.
+
+"Remember, Major, no riotous living! Make that go as far as you can,
+and take care not to invite anyone to drink with you."
+
+"Yes, Patsy."
+
+"And now I'll order the dinner."
+
+The waiter was bowing and smiling beside her. Everyone smiled at
+Patsy, it seemed.
+
+They gave the usual order, and then, after a moment's hesitation, she
+added:
+
+"And a bottle of claret for the Major."
+
+Her father fairly gasped with amazement.
+
+"Patsy!"
+
+People at the near-by tables looked up as her gay laugh rang out, and
+beamed upon her in sympathy.
+
+"I'm not crazy a bit. Major," said she, patting the hand he had
+stretched toward her, partly in delight and partly in protest. "I've
+just had a raise, that's all, and we'll celebrate the occasion."
+
+Her father tucked the napkin under his chin then looked at her
+questioningly.
+
+"Tell me, Patsy."
+
+"Madam Borne sent me to a swell house on Madison Avenue this morning,
+because all her women were engaged. I dressed the lady's hair in
+my best style, Major, and she said it was much more becoming than
+Juliette ever made it. Indeed, she wrote a note to Madam, asking her
+to send me, hereafter, instead of Juliette, and Madam patted my head
+and said I would be a credit to her, and my wages would be ten dollars
+a week, from now on. Ten dollars. Major! As much as you earn yourself
+at that miserable bookkeeping!"
+
+"Sufferin' Moses!" ejaculated the astonished major, staring back into
+her twinkling eyes, "if this kapes on, we'll be millionaires, Patsy."
+
+"We're millionaires, now." responded Patsy, promptly, "because we've
+health, and love, and contentment--and enough money to keep us from
+worrying. Do you know what I've decided, Major, dear? You shall go to
+make that visit to your colonel that you've so long wanted to have.
+The vacation will do you good, and you can get away all during July,
+because you haven't rested for five years. I went to see Mr. Conover
+this noon, and he said he'd give you the month willingly, and keep the
+position for you when you returned."
+
+"What! You spoke to old Conover about me?"
+
+"This noon. It's all arranged, daddy, and you'll just have a glorious
+time with the old colonel. Bless his dear heart, he'll be overjoyed to
+have you with him, at last."
+
+The major pulled out his handkerchief, blew his nose vigorously, and
+then surreptitiously wiped his eyes.
+
+"Ah, Patsy, Patsy; it's an angel you are, and nothing less at all, at
+all."
+
+"Rubbish, Major. Try your claret, and see if it's right. And eat your
+fish before it gets cold. I'll not treat you again, sir, unless you
+try to look happy. Why, you seem as glum as old Conover himself!"
+
+The major was positively beaming.
+
+"Would it look bad for me to kiss you, Patsy?"
+
+"Now?"
+
+"Now and right here in this very room!"
+
+"Of course it would. Try and behave, like the gentleman you are, and
+pay attention to your dinner!"
+
+It was a glorious meal. The cost was twenty-five cents a plate, but
+the gods never feasted more grandly in Olympus than these two simple,
+loving souls in that grimy Duggan street restaurant.
+
+Over his coffee the major gave a sudden start and looked guiltily into
+Patricia's eyes.
+
+"Now, then," she said, quickly catching the expression, "out with it."
+
+"It's a letter," said the major. "It came yesterday, or mayhap the day
+before. I don't just remember."
+
+"A letter! And who from?" she cried, surprised.
+
+"An ould vixen."
+
+"And who may that be?"
+
+"Your mother's sister Jane. I can tell by the emblem on the flap of
+the envelope," said he, drawing a crumpled paper from his breast
+pocket.
+
+"Oh, _that_ person," said Patsy, with scorn. "Whatever induced her to
+write to _me?_" "You might read it and find out," suggested the major.
+
+Patricia tore open the envelope and scanned the letter. Her eyes
+blazed.
+
+"What is it, Mavoureen?"
+
+"An insult!" she answered, crushing the paper in her hand and then
+stuffing it into the pocket of her dress. "Light your pipe, daddy,
+dear. Here--I'll strike the match."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LOUISE MAKES A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+"How did you enjoy the reception, Louise?"
+
+"Very well, mamma. But I made the discovery that my escort. Harry
+Wyndham, is only a poor cousin of the rich Wyndham family, and will
+never have a penny he doesn't earn himself."
+
+"I knew that," said Mrs. Merrick. "But Harry has the entree into some
+very exclusive social circles. I hope you treated him nicely, Louise.
+He can be of use to us."
+
+"Oh, yes, I think I interested him; but he's a very stupid boy. By the
+way, mamma, I had an adventure last evening, which I have had no time
+to tell you of before."
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"It has given me quite a shock. You noticed the maid you ordered to
+come from Madam Borne to dress my hair for the reception?"
+
+"I merely saw her. Was she unsatisfactory?"
+
+"She was very clever. I never looked prettier, I am sure. The maid is
+a little, demure thing, very young for such a position, and positively
+homely and common in appearance. But I hardly noticed her until she
+dropped a letter from her clothing. It fell just beside me, and I saw
+that it was addressed to no less a personage than my rich aunt, Miss
+Jane Merrick, at Elmhurst. Curious to know why a hair-dresser should
+be in correspondence with Aunt Jane, I managed to conceal the letter
+under my skirts until the maid was gone. Then I put it away until
+after the reception. It was sealed and stamped, all ready for the
+post, but I moistened the flap and easily opened it. Guess what I
+read?"
+
+"I've no idea," replied Mrs. Merrick.
+
+"Here it is," continued Louise, producing a letter and carefully
+unfolding it. "Listen to this, if you please: 'Aunt Jane.' She doesn't
+even say 'dear' or 'respected,' you observe."
+
+'Your letter to me, asking me to visit you, is almost an insult
+after your years of silence and neglect and your refusals to assist
+my poor mother when she was in need. Thank God we can do without
+your friendship and assistance now, for my honored father, Major
+Gregory Doyle, is very prosperous and earns all we need. I return your
+check with my compliments. If you are really ill, I am sorry for you,
+and would go to nurse you were you not able to hire twenty nurses,
+each of whom would have fully as much love and far more respect for
+you than could ever
+
+'Your indignant niece,
+
+'Patricia Doyle.'
+
+"What do you think of that, mamma?'"
+
+"It's very strange, Louise. This hair-dresser is your own cousin."
+
+"So it seems. And she must be poor, or she wouldn't go out as a sort
+of lady's maid. I remember scolding her severely for pulling my hair
+at one time, and she was as meek as Moses, and never answered a word."
+
+"She has a temper though, as this letter proves," said Mrs. Merrick;
+"and I admire her for the stand she has taken."
+
+"So do I," rejoined Louise with a laugh, "for it removes a rival from
+my path. You will notice that Aunt Jane has sent her a check for the
+same amount she sent me. Here it is, folded in the letter. Probably my
+other cousin, the De Graf girl, is likewise invited to Elmhurst? Aunt
+Jane wanted us all, to see what we were like, and perhaps to choose
+between us."
+
+"Quite likely," said Mrs. Merrick, uneasily watching her daughter's
+face.
+
+"That being the case," continued Louise, "I intend to enter the
+competition. With this child Patricia out of the way, it will be a
+simple duel with my unknown De Graf cousin for my aunt's favor, and
+the excitement will be agreeable even if I am worsted."
+
+"There's no danger of that," said her mother, calmly. "And the stakes
+are high, Louise. I've learned that your Aunt Jane is rated as worth a
+half million dollars."
+
+"They shall be mine," said the daughter, with assurance. "Unless,
+indeed, the De Graf girl is most wonderfully clever. What is her
+name?"
+
+"Elizabeth, if I remember rightly. But I am not sure she is yet alive,
+my dear. I haven't heard of the De Grafs for a dozen years.'"
+
+"Anyway I shall accept my Aunt Jane's invitation, and make the
+acceptance as sweet as Patricia Doyle's refusal is sour. Aunt Jane
+will be simply furious when she gets the little hair-dresser's note."
+
+"Will you send it on?"
+
+"Why not? It's only a question of resealing the envelope and mailing
+it. And it will be sure to settle Miss Doyle's chances of sharing the
+inheritance, for good and all."
+
+"And the check?"
+
+"Oh, I shall leave the check inside the envelope. It wouldn't be at
+all safe to cash it, you know."
+
+"But if you took it out Jane would think the girl had kept tit money,
+after all, and would be even more incensed against her."
+
+"No," said Louise, after a moment's thought, "I'll not do a single act
+of dishonesty that could ever by any chance be traced to my door. To
+be cunning, to be diplomatic, to play the game of life with the best
+cards we can draw, is every woman's privilege. But if I can't win
+honestly, mater dear, I'll quit the game, for even money can't
+compensate a girl for the loss of her self-respect."
+
+Mrs. Merrick cast a fleeting glance at her daughter and smiled.
+Perhaps the heroics of Louise did not greatly impress her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+AUNT JANE.
+
+
+"Lift me up, Phibbs--no, not that way! Confound your awkwardness--do
+you want to break my back? There! That's better. Now the pillow at my
+head. Oh--h. What are you blinking at, you old owl?"
+
+"Are you better this morning, Miss Jane?" asked the attendant, with
+grave deference.
+
+"No; I'm worse."
+
+"You look brighter, Miss Jane."
+
+"Don't be stupid, Martha Phibbs. I know how I am, better than any
+doctor, and I tell you I'm on my last legs."
+
+"Anything unusual, Miss?"
+
+"Of course. I can't be on my last legs regularly, can I?"
+
+"I hope not, Miss."
+
+"What do you mean by that? Are you trying to insult me, now that I'm
+weak and helpless? Answer me, you gibbering idiot!"
+
+"I'm sure you'll feel better soon, Miss. Can't I wheel you into the
+garden? It's a beautiful day, and quite sunny and warm already."
+
+"Be quick about it, then; and don't tire me out with your eternal
+doddering. When a thing has to be done, do it. That's my motto."
+
+"Yes, Miss Jane."
+
+Slowly and with care the old attendant wheeled her mistress's invalid
+chair through the doorway of the room, along a stately passage,
+and out upon a broad piazza at the back of the mansion. Here were
+extensive and carefully tended gardens, and the balmy morning air was
+redolent with the odor of flowers.
+
+Jane Merrick sniffed the fragrance with evident enjoyment, and her
+sharp grey eyes sparkled as she allowed them to roam over the gorgeous
+expanse of colors spread out before her.
+
+"I'll go down, I guess, Phibbs. This may be my last day on earth,
+and I'll spend an hour with my flowers before I bid them good-bye
+forever."
+
+Phibbs pulled a bell-cord, and a soft faraway jingle was heard. Then
+an old man came slowly around the corner of the house. His bare
+head was quite bald. He wore a short canvas apron and carried
+pruning-shears in one hand. Without a word of greeting to his mistress
+or scarce a glance at her half recumbent form, he mounted the steps of
+the piazza and assisted Phibbs to lift the chair to the ground.
+
+"How are the roses coming on, James?"
+
+"Poorly, Miss," he answered, and turning his back returned to his work
+around the corner. If he was surly, Miss Jane seemed not to mind it.
+Her glance even softened a moment as she followed his retreating form.
+
+But now she was revelling amongst the flowers, which she seemed to
+love passionately. Phibbs wheeled her slowly along the narrow paths
+between the beds, and she stopped frequently to fondle a blossom or
+pull away a dead leaf or twig from a bush. The roses were magnificent,
+in spite of the old gardener's croaking, and the sun was warm and
+grateful and the hum of the bees musical and sweet.
+
+"It's hard to die and leave all this, Phibbs," said the old woman, a
+catch in her voice. "But it's got to be done."
+
+"Not for a while yet, I hope, Miss Jane."
+
+"It won't be long, Phibbs. But I must try to live until my nieces
+come, and I can decide which of them is most worthy to care for the
+old place when I am gone."
+
+"Yes, Miss."
+
+"I've heard from two of them, already. They jumped at the bait I held
+out quickly enough; but that's only natural. And the letters are very
+sensible ones, too. Elizabeth DeGraf says she will be glad to come,
+and thanks me for inviting her. Louise Merrick is glad to come, also,
+but hopes I am deceived about my health and that she will make me more
+than one visit after we become friends. A very proper feeling; but I'm
+not deceived, Phibbs. My end's in plain sight."
+
+"Yes, Miss Jane."
+
+"And somebody's got to have my money and dear Elmhurst when I'm
+through with them. Who will it be, Phibbs?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know, Miss."
+
+"Nor do I. The money's mine, and I can do what I please with it; and
+I'm under no obligation to anyone."
+
+"Except Kenneth," said a soft voice behind her.
+
+Jane Merrick gave a start at the interruption and turned red and angry
+as, without looking around, she answered:
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! I know my duties and my business, Silas Watson."
+
+"To be sure," said a little, withered man, passing around the chair
+and facing the old woman with an humble, deprecating air. He was
+clothed in black, and his smooth-shaven, deeply lined face was
+pleasant of expression and not without power and shrewd intelligence.
+The eyes, however, were concealed by heavy-rimmed spectacles, and his
+manner was somewhat shy and reserved. However, he did not hesitate to
+speak frankly to his old friend, nor minded in the least if he aroused
+her ire.
+
+"No one knows better than you, dear Miss Jane, her duties and
+obligations; and no one performs them more religiously. But your
+recent acts, I confess, puzzle me. Why should you choose from a lot
+of inexperienced, incompetent girls a successor to Thomas Bradley's
+fortune, when he especially requested you in his will to look after
+any of his relatives, should they need assistance? Kenneth Forbes, his
+own nephew, was born after Tom's death, to be sure; but he is alone in
+the world now, an orphan, and has had no advantages to help him along
+in life since his mother's death eight years ago. I think Tom Bradley
+must have had a premonition of what was to come even though his sister
+was not married at the time of his death, and I am sure he would want
+you to help Kenneth now."
+
+"He placed me under no obligations to leave the boy any money,"
+snapped the old woman, white with suppressed wrath, "you know that
+well enough, Silas Watson, for you drew up the will."
+
+The old gentleman slowly drew a pattern upon the gravelled walk with
+the end of his walking-stick.
+
+"Yes, I drew up the will," he said, deliberately, "and I remember that
+he gave to you, his betrothed bride, all that he possessed--gave it
+gladly and lovingly, and without reserve. He was very fond of you,
+Miss Jane. But perhaps his conscience pricked him a bit, after all,
+for he added the words: 'I shall expect you to look after the welfare
+of my only relative, my sister. Katherine Bradley--or any of her
+heirs.' It appears to me, Miss Jane, that that is a distinct
+obligation. The boy is now sixteen and as fine a fellow as one often
+meets."
+
+"Bah! An imbecile--an awkward, ill-mannered brat who is only fit for a
+stable-boy! I know him, Silas, and I know he'll never amount to a hill
+of beans. Leave _him_ my money? Not if I hadn't a relative on earth!"
+
+"You misjudge him, Jane. Kenneth is all right if you'll treat him
+decently. But he won't stand your abuse and I don't think the less of
+him for that."
+
+"Why abuse? Haven't I given him a home and an education, all because
+Thomas asked me to look after his relatives? And he's been rebellious
+and pig-headed and sullen in return for my kindness, so naturally
+there's little love lost between us."
+
+"You resented your one obligation, Jane; and although you fulfilled it
+to the letter you did not in the spirit of Tom Bradley's request. I
+don't blame the boy for not liking you."
+
+"Sir!"
+
+"All right, Jane; fly at me if you will," said the little man, with a
+smile; "but I intend to tell you frankly what I think of your actions,
+just as long as we remain friends."
+
+Her stern brows unbent a trifle.
+
+"That's why we are friends, Silas; and it's useless to quarrel with
+you now that I'm on my last legs. A few days more will end me, I'm
+positive; so bear with me a little longer, my friend."
+
+He took her withered hand in his and kissed it gently.
+
+"You're not so very bad, Jane," said he, "and I'm almost sure you
+will be with us for a long time to come. But you're more nervous and
+irritable than usual, I'll admit, and I fear this invasion of your
+nieces won't be good for you. Are they really coming?"
+
+"Two of them are, I'm sure, for they've accepted my invitation," she
+replied.
+
+"Here's a letter that just arrived," he said, taking it from his
+pocket. "Perhaps it contains news from the third niece."
+
+"My glasses, Phibbs!" cried Miss Jane, eagerly, and the attendant
+started briskly for the house to get them.
+
+"What do you know about these girls?" asked the old lawyer curiously.
+
+"Nothing whatever. I scarcely knew of their existence until you hunted
+them out for me and found they were alive. But I'm going to know them,
+and study them, and the one that's most capable and deserving shall
+have my property."
+
+Mr. Watson sighed.
+
+"And Kenneth?" he asked.
+
+"I'll provide an annuity for the boy, although it's more than he
+deserves. When I realized that death was creeping upon me I felt a
+strange desire to bequeath my fortune to one of my own flesh and
+blood. Perhaps I didn't treat my brothers and sisters generously in
+the old days, Silas."
+
+"Perhaps not," he answered.
+
+"So I'll make amends to one of their children. That is, if any one of
+the three nieces should prove worthy."
+
+"I see. But if neither of the three is worthy?"
+
+"Then I'll leave every cent to charity--except Kenneth's annuity."
+
+The lawyer smiled.
+
+"Let us hope," said he, "that they will prove all you desire. It would
+break my heart, Jane, to see Elmhurst turned into a hospital."
+
+Phibbs arrived with the spectacles, and Jane Merrick read her letter,
+her face growing harder with every line she mastered. Then she
+crumpled the paper fiercely in both hands, and a moment later smoothed
+it out carefully and replaced it in the envelope.
+
+Silas Watson had watched her silently.
+
+"Well," said he, at last, "another acceptance?"
+
+"No, a refusal," said she. "A refusal from the Irishman's daughter,
+Patricia Doyle."
+
+"That's bad," he remarked, but in a tone of relief.
+
+"I don't see it in that light at all," replied Miss Jane. "The girl
+is right. It's the sort of letter I'd have written myself, under the
+circumstances. I'll write again, Silas, and humble myself, and try to
+get her to come."
+
+"You surprise me!" said the lawyer.
+
+"I surprise myself," retorted the old woman, "but I mean to know more
+of this Patricia Doyle. Perhaps I've found a gold mine, Silas Watson!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE BOY.
+
+
+Leaving the mistress of Elmhurst among her flowers, Silas Watson
+walked slowly and thoughtfully along the paths until he reached the
+extreme left wing of the rambling old mansion. Here, half hidden by
+tangled vines of climbing roses, he came to a flight of steps leading
+to an iron-railed balcony, and beyond this was a narrow stairway to
+the rooms in the upper part of the wing.
+
+Miss Merrick, however ungenerous she might have been to others, had
+always maintained Elmhurst in a fairly lavish manner. There were
+plenty of servants to look after the house and gardens, and there were
+good horses in the stables. Whenever her health permitted she dined in
+state each evening in the great dining-room, solitary and dignified,
+unless on rare occasions her one familiar, Silas Watson, occupied the
+seat opposite her. "The boy," as he was contemptuously called, was
+never permitted to enter this room. Indeed, it would be difficult to
+define exactly Kenneth Forbes' position at Elmhurst. He had lived
+there ever since his mother's death, when, a silent and unattractive
+lad of eight, Mr. Watson had brought him to Jane Merrick and insisted
+upon her providing a home for Tom Bradley's orphaned nephew.
+
+She accepted the obligation reluctantly enough, giving the child a
+small room in the left wing, as far removed from her own apartments as
+possible, and transferring all details of his care to Misery Agnew,
+the old housekeeper. Misery endeavored to "do her duty" by the boy,
+but appreciating the scant courtesy with which he was treated by her
+mistress, it is not surprising the old woman regarded him merely as a
+dependent and left him mostly to his own devices.
+
+Kenneth, even in his first days at Elmhurst, knew that his presence
+was disagreeable to Miss Jane, and as the years dragged on he grew shy
+and retiring, longing to break away from his unpleasant surroundings,
+but knowing of no other place where he would be more welcome. His only
+real friend was the lawyer, who neglected no opportunity to visit the
+boy and chat with him, in his cheery manner. Mr. Watson also arranged
+with the son of the village curate to tutor Kenneth and prepare him
+for college; but either the tutor was incompetent or the pupil did not
+apply himself, for at twenty Kenneth Forbes was very ignorant, indeed,
+and seemed not to apply himself properly to his books.
+
+He was short of stature and thin, with a sad drawn face and manners
+that even his staunch friend, Silas Watson, admitted were awkward and
+unprepossessing. What he might have been under different conditions or
+with different treatment, could only be imagined. Slowly climbing the
+stairs to the little room Kenneth inhabited, Mr. Watson was forced to
+conclude, with a sigh of regret, that he could not blame Miss Jane
+for wishing to find a more desirable heir to her estate than this
+graceless, sullen youth who had been thrust upon her by a thoughtless
+request contained in the will of her dead lover--a request that she
+seemed determined to fulfil literally, as it only required her to
+"look after" Tom's relatives and did not oblige her to leave Kenneth
+her property.
+
+Yet, strange as it may seem, the old lawyer was exceedingly fond of
+the boy, and longed to see him the master of Elmhurst. Sometimes, when
+they were alone, Kenneth forgot his sense of injury and dependence,
+and spoke so well and with such animation that Mr. Watson was
+astonished, and believed that hidden underneath the mask of reserve
+was another entirely different personality, that in the years to come
+might change the entire nature of the neglected youth and win for him
+the respect and admiration of the world. But these fits of brightness
+and geniality were rare. Only the lawyer had as yet discovered them.
+
+Today he found the boy lying listlessly upon the window-seat, an open
+book in his hand, but his eyes fixed dreamily upon the grove of huge
+elm trees that covered the distant hills.
+
+"Morning, Ken," said he, briefly, sitting beside his young friend and
+taking the book in his own hand. The margins of the printed pages were
+fairly covered with drawings of every description. The far away trees
+were there and the near-by rose gardens. There was a cat spitting at
+an angry dog, caricatures of old Misery and James, the gardener, and
+of Aunt Jane and even Silas Watson himself--all so clearly depicted
+that the lawyer suddenly wondered if they were not clever, and an
+evidence of genius. But the boy turned to look at him, and the next
+moment seized the book from his grasp and sent it flying through
+the open window, uttering at the same time a rude exclamation of
+impatience.
+
+The lawyer quietly lighted his pipe.
+
+"Why did you do that, Kenneth?" he asked. "The pictures are clever
+enough to be preserved. I did not know you have a talent for drawing."
+
+The boy glanced at him, but answered nothing, and the lawyer thought
+best not to pursue the subject After smoking a moment in silence he
+remarked:
+
+"Your aunt is failing fast." Although no relative, Kenneth had been
+accustomed to speak of Jane Merrick as his aunt.
+
+Getting neither word nor look in reply the lawyer presently continued:
+
+"I do not think she will live much longer."
+
+The boy stared from the window and drummed on the sill with his
+fingers.
+
+"When she dies," said Mr. Watson, in a musing tone, "there will be a
+new mistress at Elmhurst and you will have to move out."
+
+The boy now turned to look at him, enquiringly.
+
+"You are twenty, and you are not ready for college. You would be of no
+use in the commercial world. You have not even the capacity to become
+a clerk. What will you do, Kenneth? Where will you go?"
+
+The boy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"When will Aunt Jane die?" he asked.
+
+"I hope she will live many days yet. She may die tomorrow."
+
+"When she does, I'll answer your question." said the boy, roughly.
+"When I'm turned out of this place--which is part prison and part
+paradise--I'll do something. I don't know what, and I won't bother
+about it till the time comes. But I'll do something."
+
+"Could you earn a living?" asked the old lawyer.
+
+"Perhaps not; but I'll get one. Will I be a beggar?"
+
+"I don't know. It depends on whether Aunt Jane leaves you anything in
+her will."
+
+"I hope she won't leave me a cent!" cried the boy, with sudden
+fierceness. "I hate her, and will be glad when she is dead and out of
+my way!"
+
+"Kenneth--Kenneth, lad!"
+
+"I hate her!" he persisted, with blazing eyes. "She has insulted me,
+scorned me, humiliated me every moment since I have known her. I'll be
+glad to have her die, and I don't want a cent of her miserable money."
+
+"Money," remarked the old man, knocking the ashes from his pipe, "is
+very necessary to one who is incompetent to earn his salt. And the
+money she leaves you--if she really does leave you any--won't be
+her's, remember, but your Uncle Tom's."
+
+"Uncle Tom was good to my father," said the boy, softening.
+
+"Well, Uncle Tom gave his money to Aunt Jane, whom he had expected
+to marry; but he asked her to care for his relatives, and she'll
+doubtless give you enough to live on. But the place will go to some
+one else, and that means you must move on."
+
+"Who will have Elmhurst?" asked the boy.
+
+"One of your aunt's nieces, probably. She has three, it seems, all of
+them young girls, and she has invited them to come here to visit her."
+
+"Girls! Girls at Elmhurst?" cried the boy, shrinking back with a look
+of terror in his eyes.
+
+"To be sure. One of the nieces, it seems, refuses to come; but there
+will be two of them to scramble for your aunt's affection."
+
+"She has none," declared the boy.
+
+"Or her money, which is the same thing. The one she likes the best
+will get the estate."
+
+Kenneth smiled, and with the change of expression his face lighted
+wonderfully.
+
+"Poor Aunt!" he said. "Almost I am tempted to be sorry for her. Two
+girls--fighting one against the other for Elmhurst--and both fawning
+before a cruel and malicious old woman who could never love anyone but
+herself."
+
+"And her flowers," suggested the lawyer.
+
+"Oh, yes; and perhaps James. Tell me, why should she love James, who
+is a mere gardener, and hate me?"
+
+"James tends the flowers, and the flowers are Jane Merrick's very
+life. Isn't that the explanation?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"The girls need not worry you, Kenneth. It will be easy for you to
+keep out of their way."
+
+"When will they come?"
+
+"Next week, I believe."
+
+The boy looked around helplessly, with the air of a caged tiger.
+
+"Perhaps they won't know I'm here," he said.
+
+"Perhaps not. I'll tell Misery to bring all your meals to this room,
+and no one ever comes to this end of the garden. But if they find you,
+Kenneth, and scare you out of your den, run over to me, and I'll keep
+you safe until the girls are gone."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Watson," more graciously than was his wont. "It isn't
+that I'm afraid of girls, you know; but they may want to insult me,
+just as their aunt does, and I couldn't bear any more cruelty."
+
+"I know nothing about them," said the lawyer, "so I can't vouch in any
+way for Aunt Jane's nieces. But they are young, and it is probable
+they'll be as shy and uncomfortable here at Elmhurst as you are
+yourself. And after all, Kenneth boy, the most important thing just
+now is your own future. What in the world is to become of you?"
+
+"Oh, _that_," answered the boy, relapsing into his sullen mood; "I
+can't see that it matters much one way or another. Anyhow, I'll not
+bother my head about it until the time comes and as far as you're
+concerned, it's none of your business."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE FIRST WARNING.
+
+
+For a day or two Jane Merrick seemed to improve in health. Indeed,
+Martha Phibbs declared her mistress was better than she had been for
+weeks. Then, one night, the old attendant was awakened by a scream,
+and rushed to her mistress' side.
+
+"What is it, ma'am?" she asked, tremblingly.
+
+"My leg! I can't move my leg," gasped the mistress of Elmhurst. "Rub
+it, you old fool! Rub it till you drop, and see if you can bring back
+the life to it."
+
+Martha rubbed, of course, but the task was useless. Oscar the groom
+was sent on horseback for the nearest doctor, who came just as day
+was breaking. He gave the old woman a brief examination and shook his
+head.
+
+"It's the first warning," said he; "but nothing to be frightened
+about. That is, for the present."
+
+"Is it paralysis?" asked Jane Merrick.
+
+"Yes; a slight stroke."
+
+"But I'll have another?"
+
+"Perhaps, in time."
+
+"How long?"
+
+"It may be a week--or a month--or a year. Sometimes there is
+never another stroke. Don't worry, ma'am. Just lie still and be
+comfortable."
+
+"Huh!" grunted the old woman. But she became more composed and obeyed
+the doctor's instructions with unwonted meekness. Silas Watson arrived
+during the forenoon, and pressed her thin hand with real sympathy,
+for these two were friends despite the great difference in their
+temperaments.
+
+"Shall I draw your will, Jane?" he asked. "No!" she snapped. "I'm not
+going to die just yet, I assure you. I shall live to carry out my
+plans, Silas."
+
+She did live, and grew better as the days wore on, although she never
+recovered the use of the paralyzed limb.
+
+Each day Phibbs drew the invalid chair to the porch and old James
+lifted it to the garden walk, where his mistress might enjoy the
+flowers he so carefully and skillfully tended. They seldom spoke
+together, these two; yet there seemed a strange bond of sympathy
+between them.
+
+At last the first of July arrived, and Oscar was dispatched to the
+railway station, four miles distant, to meet Miss Elizabeth De
+Graf, the first of the nieces to appear in answer to Jane Merrick's
+invitation.
+
+Beth looked very charming and fresh in her new gown, and she greeted
+her aunt with a calm graciousness that would have amazed the professor
+to behold. She had observed carefully the grandeur and beauty of
+Elmhurst, as she drove through the grounds, and instantly decided the
+place was worth an effort to win.
+
+"So, this is Elizabeth, is it?" asked Aunt June, as the girl stood
+before her for inspection. "You may kiss me, child."
+
+Elizabeth advanced, striving to quell the antipathy she felt to kiss
+the stern featured, old woman, and touched her lips to the wrinkled
+forehead.
+
+Jane Merrick laughed, a bit sneeringly, while Beth drew back, still
+composed, and looked at her relative enquiringly.
+
+"Well, what do you think of me?" demanded Aunt Jane, as if embarrassed
+at the scrutiny she received.
+
+"Surely, it is too early to ask me that," replied Beth, gently. "I am
+going to try to like you, and my first sight of my new aunt leads me
+to hope I shall succeed."
+
+"Why shouldn't you like me?" cried the old woman. "Why must you try to
+like your mother's sister?"
+
+Beth flushed. She had promised herself not to become angry or
+discomposed, whatever her aunt might say or do; but before she could
+control herself an indignant expression flashed across her face and
+Jane Merrick saw it.
+
+"There are reasons," said Beth, slowly, "why your name is seldom
+mentioned in my father's family. Until your letter came I scarcely
+knew I possessed an aunt. It was your desire we should become better
+acquainted, and I am here for that purpose. I hope we shall become
+friends, Aunt Jane, but until then, it is better we should not discuss
+the past."
+
+The woman frowned. It was not difficult for her to read the character
+of the child before her, and she knew intuitively that Beth was
+strongly prejudiced against her, but was honestly trying not to allow
+that prejudice to influence her. She decided to postpone further
+interrogations until another time.
+
+"Your journey has tired you," she said abruptly. "I'll have Misery
+show you to your room."
+
+She touched a bell beside her.
+
+"I'm not tired, but I'll go to my room, if you please," answered Beth,
+who realized that she had in some way failed to make as favorable an
+impression as she had hoped. "When may I see you again?"
+
+"When I send for you," snapped Aunt Jane, as the housekeeper entered.
+"I suppose you know I am a paralytic, and liable to die at any time?"
+
+"I am very sorry," said Beth, hesitatingly. "You do not seem very
+ill."
+
+"I'm on my last legs. I may not live an hour. But that's none of your
+business, I suppose. By the way, I expect your cousin on the afternoon
+train."
+
+Beth gave a start of surprise.
+
+"My cousin?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, Louise Merrick."
+
+"Oh!" said Beth, and stopped short.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" enquired Aunt Jane, with a smile that was
+rather malicious.
+
+"I did not know I had a cousin," said the girl. "That is," correcting
+herself, "I did not know whether Louise Merrick was alive or not.
+Mother has mentioned her name once or twice in my presence; but not
+lately."
+
+"Well, she's alive. Very much alive, I believe. And she's coming to
+visit me, while you are here. I expect you to be friends."
+
+"To be sure," said Beth, nevertheless discomfited at the news.
+
+"We dine at seven," said Aunt Jane. "I always lunch in my own room,
+and you may do the same," and with a wave of her thin hand she
+dismissed the girl, who thoughtfully followed the old housekeeper
+through the halls.
+
+It was not going to be an easy task to win this old woman's affection.
+Already she rebelled at the necessity of undertaking so distasteful a
+venture and wondered if she had not made a mistake in trying to curb
+her natural frankness, and to conciliate a creature whose very nature
+seemed antagonistic to her own. And this new cousin, Louise Merrick,
+why was she coming to Elmhurst? To compete for the prize Beth had
+already determined to win? In that case she must consider carefully
+her line of action, that no rival might deprive her of this great
+estate. Beth felt that she could fight savagely for an object she so
+much desired. Her very muscles hardened and grew tense at the thought
+of conflict as she walked down the corridor in the wake of old Misery
+the housekeeper. She had always resented the sordid life at Cloverton.
+She had been discontented with her lot since her earliest girlhood,
+and longed to escape the constant bickerings of her parents and their
+vain struggles to obtain enough money to "keep up appearances" and
+drive the wolf from the door. And here was an opportunity to win a
+fortune and a home beautiful enough for a royal princess. All that was
+necessary was to gain the esteem of a crabbed, garrulous old woman,
+who had doubtless but a few more weeks to live. It must be done,
+in one way or another; but how? How could she out-wit this unknown
+cousin, and inspire the love of Aunt Jane?
+
+"If there's any stuff of the right sort in my nature," decided the
+girl, as she entered her pretty bedchamber and threw herself into a
+chair, "I'll find a way to win out. One thing is certain--I'll never
+again have another chance at so fine a fortune, and if I fail to get
+it I shall deserve to live in poverty forever afterward."
+
+Suddenly she noticed the old housekeeper standing before her and
+regarding her with a kindly interest. In an instant she sprang up,
+threw her arms around Misery and kissed her furrowed cheek.
+
+"Thank you for being so kind," said she. "I've never been away from
+home before and you must be a mother to me while I'm at Elmhurst."
+
+Old Misery smiled and stroked the girl's glossy head.
+
+"Bless the child!" she said, delightedly; "of course I'll be a mother
+to you. You'll need a bit of comforting now and then, my dear, if
+you're going to live with Jane Merrick."
+
+"Is she cross?" asked Beth, softly.
+
+"At times she's a fiend," confided the old housekeeper, in almost a
+whisper. "But don't you mind her tantrums, or lay 'em to heart, and
+you'll get along with her all right."
+
+"Thank you," said the girl. "I'll try not to mind."
+
+"Do you need anything else, deary?" asked Misery, with a glance around
+the room.
+
+"Nothing at all, thank you."
+
+The housekeeper nodded and softly withdrew.
+
+"That was one brilliant move, at any rate," said Beth to herself, as
+she laid aside her hat and prepared to unstrap her small trunk. "I've
+made a friend at Elmhurst who will be of use to me; and I shall make
+more before long. Come as soon as you like, Cousin Louise! You'll have
+to be more clever than I am, if you hope to win Elmhurst."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE DIPLOMAT.
+
+
+Aunt Jane was in her garden, enjoying the flowers. This was her
+especial garden, surrounded by a high-box hedge, and quite distinct
+from the vast expanse of shrubbery and flower-beds which lent so much
+to the beauty of the grounds at Elmhurst. Aunt Jane knew and loved
+every inch of her property. She had watched the shrubs personally for
+many years, and planned all the alterations and the construction of
+the flower-beds which James had so successfully attended to. Each
+morning, when her health permitted, she had inspected the greenhouses
+and issued her brief orders--brief because her slightest word to the
+old gardener incurred the fulfillment of her wishes. But this bit of
+garden adjoining her own rooms was her especial pride, and contained
+the choicest plants she had been able to secure. So, since she had
+been confined to her chair, the place had almost attained to the
+dignity of a private drawing-room, and on bright days she spent many
+hours here, delighting to feast her eyes with the rich coloring of the
+flowers and to inhale their fragrance. For however gruff Jane Merrick
+might be to the people with whom she came in contact, she was always
+tender to her beloved flowers, and her nature invariably softened when
+in their presence.
+
+By and by Oscar, the groom, stepped through an opening in the hedge
+and touched his hat.
+
+"Has my niece arrived?" asked his mistress, sharply.
+
+"She's on the way, mum," the man answered, grinning. "She stopped
+outside the grounds to pick wild flowers, an' said I was to tell you
+she'd walk the rest o' the way."
+
+"To pick wild flowers?"
+
+"That's what she said, mum. She's that fond of 'em she couldn't
+resist it. I was to come an' tell you this, mum; an' she'll follow me
+directly."
+
+Aunt Jane stared at the man sternly, and he turned toward her an
+unmoved countenance. Oscar had been sent to the station to meet Louise
+Merrick, and drive her to Elmhurst; but this strange freak on the part
+of her guest set the old woman thinking what her object could be. Wild
+flowers were well enough in their way; but those adjoining the grounds
+of Elmhurst were very ordinary and unattractive, and Miss Merrick's
+aunt was expecting her. Perhaps--
+
+A sudden light illumined the mystery.
+
+"See here, Oscar; has this girl been questioning you?"
+
+"She asked a few questions, mum."
+
+"About me?"
+
+"Some of 'em, if I remember right, mum, was about you."
+
+"And you told her I was fond of flowers?"
+
+"I may have just mentioned that you liked 'em, mum."
+
+Aunt Jane gave a scornful snort, and the man responded in a curious
+way. He winked slowly and laboriously, still retaining the solemn
+expression on his face.
+
+"You may go, Oscar. Have the girl's luggage placed in her room."
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+He touched his hat and then withdrew, leaving Jane Merrick with a
+frown upon her brow that was not caused by his seeming impertinence.
+
+Presently a slight and graceful form darted through the opening in the
+hedge and approached the chair wherein Jane Merrick reclined.
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear aunt!" cried Louise. "How glad I am to see you at
+last, and how good of you to let me come here!" and she bent over and
+kissed the stern, unresponsive face with an enthusiasm delightful to
+behold.
+
+"This is Louise, I suppose," said Aunt Jane, stiffly. "You are welcome
+to Elmhurst."
+
+"Tell me how you are," continued the girl, kneeling beside the chair
+and taking the withered hands gently in her own. "Do you suffer any?
+And are you getting better, dear aunt, in this beautiful garden with
+the birds and the sunshine?"
+
+"Get up," said the elder woman, roughly. "You're spoiling your gown."
+
+Louise laughed gaily.
+
+"Never mind the gown," she answered. "Tell me about yourself. I've
+been so anxious since your last letter."
+
+Aunt Jane's countenance relaxed a trifle. To speak of her broken
+health always gave her a sort of grim satisfaction.
+
+"I'm dying, as you can plainly see," she announced. "My days are
+numbered, Louise. If you stay long enough you can gather wild flowers
+for my coffin."
+
+Louise flushed a trifle. A bunch of butter-cups and forget-me-nots was
+fastened to her girdle, and she had placed a few marguerites in her
+hair.
+
+"Don't laugh at these poor things!" she said, deprecatingly. "I'm so
+fond of flowers, and we find none growing wild in the cities, you
+know."
+
+Jane Merrick looked at her reflectively.
+
+"How old are you, Louise," she asked.
+
+"Just seventeen, Aunt."
+
+"I had forgotten you are so old as that. Let me see; Elizabeth cannot
+be more than fifteen."
+
+"Elizabeth?"
+
+"Elizabeth De Graf, your cousin. She arrived at Elmhurst this morning,
+and will be your companion while you are here."
+
+"That is nice," said Louise.
+
+"I hope you will be friends."
+
+"Why not, Aunt? I haven't known much of my relations in the past, you
+know, so it pleases me to find an aunt and a cousin at the same time.
+I am sure I shall love you both. Let me fix your pillow--you do not
+seem comfortable. There! Isn't that better?" patting the pillow
+deftly. "I'm afraid you have needed more loving care than a paid
+attendant can give you," glancing at old Martha Phibbs, who stood some
+paces away, and lowering her voice that she might not be overheard.
+"But for a time, at least, I mean to be your nurse, and look after
+your wants. You should have sent for me before, Aunt Jane."
+
+"Don't trouble yourself; Phibbs knows my ways, and does all that is
+required," said the invalid, rather testily. "Run away, now, Louise.
+The housekeeper will show you to your room. It's opposite Elizabeth's,
+and you will do well to make her acquaintance at once. I shall expect
+you both to dine with me at seven."
+
+"Can't I stay here a little longer?" pleaded Louise. "We haven't
+spoken two words together, as yet, and I'm not a bit tired or anxious
+to go to my room. What a superb oleander this is! Is it one of your
+favorites, Aunt Jane?"
+
+"Run away," repeated the woman. "I want to be alone."
+
+The girl sighed and kissed her again, stroking the gray hair softly
+with her white hand.
+
+"Very well; I'll go," she said. "But I don't intend to be treated as
+a strange guest, dear Aunt, for that would drive me to return home at
+once. You are my father's eldest sister, and I mean to make you love
+me, if you will give me the least chance to do so."
+
+She looked around her, enquiringly, and Aunt Jane pointed a bony
+finger at the porch.
+
+"That is the way. Phibbs will take you to Misery, the housekeeper, and
+then return to me. Remember, I dine promptly at seven."
+
+"I shall count the minutes," said Louise, and with a laugh and a
+graceful gesture of adieu, turned to follow Martha into the house.
+
+Jane Merrick looked after her with a puzzled expression upon her face.
+
+"Were she in the least sincere," she muttered, "Louise might prove a
+very pleasant companion. But she's not sincere; she's coddling me to
+win my money, and if I don't watch out she'll succeed. The girl's a
+born diplomat, and weighed in the balance against sincerity, diplomacy
+will often tip the scales. I might do worse than to leave Elmhurst to
+a clever woman. But I don't know Beth yet. I'll wait and see which
+girl is the most desirable, and give them each an equal chance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+COUSINS.
+
+
+"Come in," called Beth, answering a knock at her door.
+
+Louise entered, and with a little cry ran forward and caught Beth in
+her arms, kissing her in greeting.
+
+"You must be my new cousin--Cousin Elizabeth--and I'm awfully glad to
+see you at last!" she said, holding the younger girl a little away,
+that she might examine her carefully.
+
+Beth did not respond to the caress. She eyed her opponent sharply,
+for she knew well enough, even in that first moment, that they were
+engaged in a struggle for supremacy in Aunt Jane's affections, and
+that in the battles to come no quarter could be asked or expected.
+
+So they stood at arm's length, facing one another and secretly forming
+an estimate each of the other's advantages and accomplishments.
+
+"She's pretty enough, but has no style whatever," was Louise's
+conclusion. "Neither has she tact nor self-possession, or even a
+prepossessing manner. She wears her new gown in a dowdy manner and one
+can read her face easily. There's little danger in this quarter, I'm
+sure, so I may as well be friends with the poor child."
+
+As for Beth, she saw at once that her "new cousin" was older and more
+experienced in the ways of the world, and therefore liable to prove
+a dangerous antagonist. Slender and graceful of form, attractive
+of feature and dainty in manner, Louise must be credited with
+many advantages; but against these might be weighed her evident
+insincerity--the volubility and gush that are so often affected to
+hide one's real nature, and which so shrewd and suspicious a woman as
+Aunt Jane could not fail to readily detect. Altogether, Beth was not
+greatly disturbed by her cousin's appearance, and suddenly realizing
+that they had been staring at one another rather rudely, she said,
+pleasantly enough:
+
+"Won't you sit down?"
+
+"Of course; we must get acquainted," replied Louise, gaily, and
+perched herself cross-legged upon the window-seat, surrounded by a
+mass of cushions.
+
+"I didn't know you were here, until an hour ago," she continued. "But
+as soon as Aunt Jane told me I ran to my room, unpacked and settled
+the few traps I brought with me, and here I am--prepared for a good
+long chat and to love you just as dearly as you will let me."
+
+"I knew you were coming, but not until this morning," answered Beth,
+slowly. "Perhaps had I known, I would not have accepted our Aunt's
+invitation."
+
+"Ah! Why not?" enquired the other, as if in wonder.
+
+Beth hesitated.
+
+"Have you known Aunt Jane before today?" she asked.
+
+"No."
+
+"Nor I. The letter asking me to visit her was the first I have ever
+received from her. Even my mother, her own sister, does not correspond
+with her. I was brought up to hate her very name, as a selfish,
+miserly old woman. But, since she asked me to visit her, we judged she
+had softened and might wish to become friendly, and so I accepted the
+invitation. I had no idea you were also invited."
+
+"But why should you resent my being here?" Louise asked, smiling.
+"Surely, two girls will have a better time in this lonely old place
+than one could have alone. For my part, I am delighted to find you at
+Elmhurst."
+
+"Thank you," said Beth. "That's a nice thing to say, but I doubt if
+it's true. Don't let's beat around the bush. I hate hypocrisy, and if
+we're going to be friends let's be honest with one another from the
+start."
+
+"Well?" queried Louise, evidently amused.
+
+"It's plain to me that Aunt Jane has invited us here to choose which
+one of us shall inherit her money--and Elmhurst. She's old and feeble,
+and she hasn't any other relations."
+
+"Oh, yes, she has" corrected Louise.
+
+"You mean Patricia Doyle?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What do you know of her?"
+
+"Nothing at all."
+
+"Where does she live?"
+
+"I haven't the faintest idea."
+
+Louise spoke as calmly as if she had not mailed Patricia's defiant
+letter to Aunt Jane, or discovered her cousin's identity in the little
+hair-dresser from Madame Borne's establishment.
+
+"Has Aunt Jane mentioned her?" continued Beth.
+
+"Not in my presence."
+
+"Then we may conclude she's left out of the arrangement," said Beth,
+calmly. "And, as I said, Aunt Jane is likely to choose one of us to
+succeed her at Elmhurst. I hoped I had it all my own way, but it's
+evident I was mistaken. You'll fight for your chance and fight mighty
+hard!"
+
+Louise laughed merrily.
+
+"How funny!" she exclaimed, after a moment during which Beth frowned
+at her darkly. "Why, my dear cousin, I don't want Aunt Jane's money."
+
+"You don't?"
+
+"Not a penny of it; nor Elmhurst; nor anything you can possibly lay
+claim to, my dear. My mother and I are amply provided for, and I am
+only here to find rest from my social duties and to get acquainted
+with my dead father's sister. That is all."
+
+"Oh!" said Beth, lying back in her chair with a sigh of relief.
+
+"So it was really a splendid idea of yours to be frank with me at our
+first meeting," continued Louise, cheerfully; "for it has led to your
+learning the truth, and I am sure you will never again grieve me by
+suggesting that I wish to supplant you in Aunt Jane's favor. Now tell
+me something about yourself and your people. Are you poor?"
+
+"Poor as poverty," said Beth, gloomily. "My father teaches music, and
+mother scolds him continually for not being able to earn enough money
+to keep out of debt."
+
+"Hasn't Aunt Jane helped you?"
+
+"We've never seen a cent of her money, although father has tried at
+times to borrow enough to help him out of his difficulties."
+
+"That's strange. She seems like such a dear kindly old lady," said
+Louise, musingly.
+
+"I think she's horrid," answered Beth, angrily; "but I mustn't let her
+know it. I even kissed her, when she asked me to, and it sent a shiver
+all down my back."
+
+Louise laughed with genuine amusement.
+
+"You must dissemble, Cousin Elizabeth," she advised, "and teach our
+aunt to love you. For my part, I am fond of everyone, and it delights
+me to fuss around invalids and assist them. I ought to have been a
+trained nurse, you know; but of course there's no necessity of my
+earning a living."
+
+"I suppose not," said Beth. Then, after a thoughtful silence, she
+resumed abruptly; "What's to prevent Aunt Jane leaving you her
+property, even if you are rich, and don't need it? You say you like to
+care for invalids, and I don't. Suppose Aunt Jane prefers you to me,
+and wills you all her money?"
+
+"Why, that would be beyond my power to prevent," answered Louise, with
+a little yawn.
+
+Beth's face grew hard again.
+
+"You're deceiving me," she declared, angrily. "You're trying to make
+me think you don't want Elmhurst, when you're as anxious to get it as
+I am."
+
+"My dear Elizabeth--by the way, that's an awfully long name; what do
+they call you, Lizzie, or Bessie, or--"
+
+"They call me Beth," sullenly.
+
+"Then, my dear Beth, let me beg you not to borrow trouble, or to doubt
+one who wishes to be your friend. Elmhurst would be a perfect bore
+to me. I wouldn't know what to do with it. I couldn't live in this
+out-of-the-way corner of the world, you know."
+
+"But suppose she leaves it to you?" persisted Beth. "You wouldn't
+refuse it, I imagine."
+
+Louise seemed to meditate.
+
+"Cousin," she said, at length, "I'll make a bargain with you. I can't
+refuse to love and pet Aunt Jane, just because she has money and my
+sweet cousin Beth is anxious to inherit it. But I'll not interfere in
+any way with your chances, and I'll promise to sing your praises to
+our aunt persistently. Furthermore, in case she selects me as her
+heir, I will agree to transfer half of the estate to you--the half
+that consists of Elmhurst."
+
+"Is there much more?" asked Beth.
+
+"I haven't any list of Aunt Jane's possessions, so I don't know. But
+you shall have Elmhurst, if I get it, because the place would be of no
+use to me."
+
+"It's a magnificent estate," said Beth, looking at her cousin
+doubtfully.
+
+"It shall be yours, dear, whatever Aunt Jane decides. See, this is a
+compact, and I'll seal it with a kiss."
+
+She sprang up and, kneeling beside Beth, kissed her fervently.
+
+"Now shall we be friends?" she asked, lightly. "Now will you abandon
+all those naughty suspicions and let me love you?"
+
+Beth hesitated. The suggestion seemed preposterous. Such generosity
+savored of play acting, and Louise's manner was too airy to be
+genuine. Somehow she felt that she was being laughed at by this
+slender, graceful girl, who was scarcely older than herself; but she
+was too unsophisticated to know how to resent it. Louise insisted upon
+warding off her enmity, or at least establishing a truce, and Beth,
+however suspicious and ungracious, could find no way of rejecting the
+overtures.
+
+"Were I in your place," she said, "I would never promise to give up a
+penny of the inheritance. If I win it, I shall keep it all."
+
+"To be sure. I should want you to, my dear."
+
+"Then, since we have no cause to quarrel, we may as well become
+friends," continued Beth, her features relaxing a little their set
+expression.
+
+Louise laughed again, ignoring the other's brusqueness, and was soon
+chatting away pleasantly upon other subjects and striving to draw Beth
+out of her natural reserve.
+
+The younger girl had no power to resist such fascinations. Louise
+knew the big world, and talked of it with charming naivete, and
+Beth listened rapturously. Such a girl friend it had never been her
+privilege to have before, and when her suspicions were forgotten she
+became fairly responsive, and brightened wonderfully.
+
+They dressed in time for dinner, and met Aunt Jane and Silas Watson,
+the lawyer, in the great drawing-room. The old gentleman was very
+attentive and courteous during the stately dinner, and did much to
+relieve the girls' embarrassment. Louise, indeed, seemed quite at home
+in her new surroundings, and chatted most vivaciously during the meal;
+but Aunt Jane was strangely silent, and Beth had little to say and
+seemed awkward and ill at ease.
+
+The old lady retired to her own room shortly after dinner, and
+presently sent a servant to request Mr. Watson to join her.
+
+"Silas," she said, when he entered, "what do you think of my nieces?"
+
+"They are very charming girls," he answered, "although they are at
+an age when few girls show to good advantage. Why did you not invite
+Kenneth to dinner, Jane?"
+
+"The boy?"
+
+"Yes. They would be more at ease in the society of a young gentleman
+more nearly their own age."
+
+"Kenneth is a bear. He is constantly saying disagreeable things. In
+other words, he is not gentlemanly, and the girls shall have nothing
+to do with him."
+
+"Very well," said the lawyer, quietly.
+
+"Which of my nieces do you prefer?" asked the old lady, after a pause.
+
+"I cannot say, on so short an acquaintance," he answered, with
+gravity. "Which do you prefer, Jane?"
+
+"They are equally unsatisfactory," she answered. "I cannot imagine
+Elmhurst belonging to either, Silas." Then she added, with an abrupt
+change of manner: "You must go to New York for me, at once."
+
+"Tonight?"
+
+"No; tomorrow morning. I must see that other niece--the one who defies
+me and refuses to answer my second letter."
+
+"Patricia Doyle?"
+
+"Yes. Find her and argue with her. Tell her I am a crabbed old woman
+with a whim to know her, and that I shall not die happy unless she
+comes to Elmhurst. Bribe her, threaten her--kidnap her if necessary,
+Silas; but get her to Elmhurst as quickly as possible."
+
+"I'll do my best, Jane. But why are you so anxious?"
+
+"My time is drawing near, old friend," she replied, less harshly than
+usual, "and this matter of my will lies heavily on my conscience. What
+if I should die tonight?"
+
+He did not answer.
+
+"There would be a dozen heirs to fight for my money, and dear old
+Elmhurst would be sold to strangers," she resumed, with bitterness.
+"But I don't mean to cross over just yet, Silas, even if one limb is
+dead already. I shall hang on until I get this matter settled, and I
+can't settle it properly without seeing all three of my nieces. One of
+these is too hard, and the other too soft. I'll see what Patricia is
+like."
+
+"She may prove even more undesirable," said the lawyer.
+
+"In that case, I'll pack her back again and choose between these two.
+But you must fetch her, Silas, that I may know just what I am doing.
+And you must fetch her at once!"
+
+"I'll do the best I can, Jane," repeated the old lawyer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE MAN WITH THE BUNDLE.
+
+
+In the harness-room above the stable sat Duncan Muir, the coachman and
+most important servant, with the exception of the head gardener, in
+Miss Merrick's establishment. Duncan, bald-headed but with white and
+bushy side-whiskers, was engaged in the serious business of oiling and
+polishing the state harness, which had not been used for many months
+past. But that did not matter. Thursday was the day for oiling the
+harness, and so on Thursday he performed the task, never daring to
+entrust a work so important to a subordinate.
+
+In one corner of the little room Kenneth Forbes squatted upon a bench,
+with an empty pine box held carelessly in his lap. While Duncan worked
+the boy was busy with his pencil, but neither had spoken for at least
+a half hour.
+
+Finally the aged coachman, without looking up, enquired:
+
+"What do ye think o' 'em, Kenneth lad?"
+
+"Think o' whom, Don?"
+
+"The young leddies."
+
+"What young ladies?"
+
+"Miss Jane's nieces, as Oscar brought from the station yesterday."
+
+The boy looked astonished, and leaned over the box in his lap eagerly.
+
+"Tell me, Don," he said. "I was away with my gun all yesterday, and
+heard nothing of it."
+
+"Why, it seems Miss Jane's invited 'em to make her a visit."
+
+"But not yet, Don! Not so soon."
+
+"Na'theless, they're here."
+
+"How many, Don?"
+
+"Two, lad. A bonny young thing came on the morning train, an' a nice,
+wide-awake one by the two o'clock."
+
+"Girls?" with an accent of horror.
+
+"Young females, anyhow," said Donald, polishing a buckle briskly.
+
+The boy glared at him fixedly.
+
+"Will they be running about the place, Don?"
+
+"Most likely, 'Twould be a shame to shut them up with the poor missus
+this glad weather. But why not? They'll be company for ye, Kenneth
+lad."
+
+"How long will they stay?"
+
+"Mabbe for aye. Oscar forbys one or the ither o' 'em will own the
+place when Miss Jane gi'es up the ghost."
+
+The boy sat silent a moment, thinking upon this speech. Then, with a
+cry that was almost a scream, he dashed the box upon the floor and
+flew out the door as if crazed, and Donald paused to listen to his
+footsteps clattering down the stairs.
+
+Then the old man groaned dismally, shaking his side-whiskers with a
+negative expression that might have conveyed worlds of meaning to one
+able to interpret it. But his eye fell upon the pine box, which had
+rolled to his feet, and he stooped to pick it up. Upon the smoothly
+planed side was his own picture, most deftly drawn, showing him
+engaged in polishing the harness. Every strap and buckle was depicted
+with rare fidelity; there was no doubt at all of the sponge and bottle
+on the stool beside him, or the cloth in his hand. Even his bow
+spectacles rested upon the bridge of his nose at exactly the right
+angle, and his under lip protruded just as it had done since he was a
+lad.
+
+Donald was not only deeply impressed by such an exhibition of art; he
+was highly gratified at being pictured, and full of wonder that the
+boy could do such a thing; "wi' a wee pencil an' a bit o' board!" He
+turned the box this way and that to admire the sketch, and finally
+arose and brought a hatchet, with which he carefully pried the board
+away from the box. Then he carried his treasure to a cupboard, where
+he hid it safely behind a row of tall bottles.
+
+Meantime Kenneth had reached the stable, thrown a bridle over the head
+of a fine sorrel mare, and scorning to use a saddle leaped upon her
+back and dashed down the lane and out at the rear gate upon the old
+turnpike road.
+
+His head was whirling with amazement, his heart full of indignation.
+Girls! Girls at Elmhurst--nieces and guests of the fierce old woman
+he so bitterly hated! Then, indeed, his days of peace and quiet were
+ended. These dreadful creatures would prowl around everywhere; they
+might even penetrate the shrubbery to the foot of the stairs leading
+to his own retired room; they would destroy his happiness and drive
+him mad.
+
+For this moody, silent youth had been strangely happy in his life
+at Elmhurst, despite the neglect of the grim old woman who was its
+mistress and the fact that no one aside from Lawyer Watson seemed to
+care whether he lived or died.
+
+Perhaps Donald did. Good old Don was friendly and seldom bothered him
+by talking. Perhaps old Misery liked him a bit, also. But these were
+only servants, and almost as helpless and dependent as himself.
+
+Still, he had been happy. He began to realize it, now that these awful
+girls had come to disturb his peace. The thought filled him with grief
+and rebellion and resentment; yet there was nothing he could do to
+alter the fact that Donald's "young females" were already here, and
+prepared, doubtless, to stay.
+
+The sorrel was dashing down the road at a great pace, but the boy
+clung firmly to his seat and gloried in the breeze that fanned his hot
+cheeks. Away and away he raced until he reached the crossroads, miles
+away, and down this he turned and galloped as recklessly as before.
+The sun was hot, today, and the sorrel's flanks begun to steam and
+show flecks of white upon their glossy surface. He turned again to the
+left, entering upon a broad highway that would lead him straight home
+at last; but he had almost reached the little village of Elmwood,
+which was the railway station, before he realized his cruelty to the
+splendid mare he bestrode. Then indeed, he fell to a walk, patting
+Nora's neck affectionately and begging her to forgive him for his
+thoughtlessness. The mare tossed her head in derision. However she
+might sweat and pant, she liked the glorious pace even better than her
+rider.
+
+Through the village he paced moodily, the bridle dangling loosely on
+the mare's neck. The people paused to look at him curiously, but he
+had neither word nor look for any.
+
+He did not know one of them by name, and cared little how much they
+might speculate upon his peculiar position at "the big house."
+
+Then, riding slowly up the hedge bordered road, his troubles once more
+assailed him, and he wondered if there was not some spot upon the
+broad earth to which he could fly for retirement until the girls had
+left Elmhurst for good.
+
+Nora shied, and he looked up to discover that he had nearly run down a
+pedestrian--a stout little man with a bundle under his arm, who held
+up one hand as if to arrest him.
+
+Involuntarily he drew rein, and stopped beside the traveler with a
+look of inquiry.
+
+"Sorry to trouble you, sir," remarked the little man, in a cheery
+voice, "but I ain't just certain about my way."
+
+"Where do you want to go?" asked the boy.
+
+"To Jane Merrick's place. They call it Elmhurst, I guess."
+
+"It's straight ahead," said Kenneth, as the mare walked on. His
+questioner also started and paced beside him.
+
+"Far from here?"
+
+"A mile, perhaps."
+
+"They said it was three from the village, but I guess I've come a
+dozen a'ready."
+
+The boy did not reply to this. There was nothing offensive in the
+man's manner. He spoke with an easy familiarity that made it difficult
+not to respond with equal frank cordiality, and there was a shrewd
+expression upon his wrinkled, smooth-shaven face that stamped him a
+man who had seen life in many of its phases.
+
+Kenneth, who resented the companionship of most people, seemed
+attracted by the man, and hesitated to gallop on and leave him.
+
+"Know Jane Merrick?" asked the stranger.
+
+The boy nodded.
+
+"Like her?"
+
+"I hate her," he said, savagely.
+
+The man laughed, a bit uneasily.
+
+"Then it's the same Jane as ever," he responded, with a shake of his
+grizzled head. "Do you know, I sort o' hoped she'd reformed, and I'd
+be glad to see her again. They tell me she's got money."
+
+The boy looked at him in surprise.
+
+"She owns Elmhurst, and has mortgages on a dozen farms around here,
+and property in New York, and thousands of dollars in the bank," he
+said. "Aunt Jane's rich."
+
+"Aunt Jane?" echoed the man, quickly. "What's your name, lad?"
+
+"Kenneth Forbes."
+
+A shake of the head.
+
+"Don't recollect any Forbeses in the family."
+
+"She isn't really my aunt," said the boy, "and she doesn't treat me
+as an aunt, either; but she's my guardian, and I've always called her
+Aunt, rather than say Miss Merrick."
+
+"She's never married, has she?"
+
+"No. She was engaged to my Uncle Tom, who owned Elmhurst. He was
+killed in a railway accident, and then it was found he'd left her all
+he had."
+
+"I see."
+
+"So, when my parents died, Aunt Jane took me for Uncle Tom's sake, and
+keeps me out of charity."
+
+"I see." Quite soberly, this time.
+
+The boy slid off the mare and walked beside the little man, holding
+the bridle over his arm. They did not speak again for some moments.
+
+Finally the stranger asked:
+
+"Are Jane's sisters living--Julia and Violet?"
+
+"I don't know. But there are two of her nieces at Elmhurst."
+
+"Ha! Who are they?"
+
+"Girls," with bitterness. "I haven't seen them."
+
+The stranger whistled.
+
+"Don't like girls, I take it?"
+
+"No; I hate them."
+
+Another long pause. Then the boy suddenly turned questioner.
+
+"You know Aunt--Miss Merrick, sir?"
+
+"I used to, when we were both younger."
+
+"Any relation, sir?"
+
+"Just a brother, that's all."
+
+Kenneth stopped short, and the mare stopped, and the little man, with
+a whimsical smile at the boy's astonishment, also stopped.
+
+"I didn't know she had a brother, sir--that is, living."
+
+"She had two; but Will's dead, years ago, I'm told. I'm the other."
+
+"John Merrick?"
+
+"That's me. I went west a long time ago; before you were born, I
+guess. We don't get much news on the coast, so I sort of lost track of
+the folks back east, and I reckon they lost track of me, for the same
+reason."
+
+"You were the tinsmith?"
+
+"The same. Bad pennies always return, they say. I've come back to look
+up the family and find how many are left. Curious sort of a job, isn't
+it."
+
+"I don't know. Perhaps it's natural," replied the boy, reflectively.
+"But I'm sorry you came to Aunt Jane first."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"She's in bad health--quite ill, you know--and her temper's dreadful.
+Perhaps she--she--"
+
+"I know. But I haven't seen her in years; and, after all, she's my
+sister. And back at the old home, where I went first, no one knew
+anything about what had become of the family except Jane. They kept
+track of her because she suddenly became rich, and a great lady, and
+that was a surprising thing to happen to a Merrick. We've always been
+a poor lot, you know."
+
+The boy glanced at the bundle, pityingly, and the little man caught
+the look and smiled his sweet, cheery smile.
+
+"My valise was too heavy to carry," he said; "so I wrapped up a few
+things in case Jane wanted me to stay over night. And that's why I
+didn't get a horse at the livery, you know. Somebody'd have to take it
+back again."
+
+"I'm sure she'll ask you to stay, sir. And if she doesn't, you come
+out to the stable and let me know, and I'll drive you to town again.
+Donald--that's the coachman--is my friend, and he'll let me have the
+horse if I ask him."
+
+"Thank you, lad," returned the man, gratefully. "I thought a little
+exercise would do me good, but this three miles has seemed like thirty
+to me!"
+
+"We're here at last," said the boy, turning: into the drive-way.
+"Seeing that you're her brother, sir, I advise you to go right up to
+the front door and ring the bell."
+
+"I will," said the man.
+
+"I always go around the back way, myself."
+
+"I see."
+
+The boy turned away, but in a moment halted again. His interest in
+Miss Jane's brother John was extraordinary.
+
+"Another thing," he said, hesitating.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You'd better not say you met me, you know. It wouldn't be a good
+introduction. She hates me as much as I hate her."
+
+"Very good, my lad. I'll keep mum."
+
+The boy nodded, and turned away to lead Nora to the stable. The man
+looked after him a moment, and shook his head, sadly.
+
+"Poor boy!" he whispered.
+
+Then he walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE MAD GARDENER.
+
+
+"This seems to be a lazy place," said Louise, as she stood in the
+doorway of Beth's room to bid her good night. "I shall sleep until
+late in the morning, for I don't believe Aunt Jane will be on
+exhibition before noon."
+
+"At home I always get up at six o'clock," answered Beth.
+
+"Six o'clock! Good gracious! What for?"
+
+"To study my lessons and help get the breakfast."
+
+"Don't you keep a maid?"
+
+"No," said Beth, rather surlily; "we have hard work to keep
+ourselves."
+
+"But you must be nearly through with school by this time. I finished
+my education ages ago."
+
+"Did you graduate?" asked Beth.
+
+"No; it wasn't worth while," declared Louise, complacently. "I'm sure
+I know as much as most girls do, and there are more useful lessons to
+be learned from real life than from books."
+
+"Good night," said Beth.
+
+"Good night," answered the older girl, and shut the door behind her.
+
+Beth sat for a time moodily thinking. She did not like the way in
+which her cousin assumed superiority over her. The difference in
+their ages did not account for the greater worldly wisdom Louise
+had acquired, and in much that she said and did Beth recognized a
+shrewdness and experience that made her feel humbled and, in a way,
+inferior to her cousin. Nor did she trust the friendship Louise
+expressed for her.
+
+Somehow, nothing that the girl said seemed to ring true, and Beth
+already, in her mind, accused her of treachery and insincerity.
+
+As a matter of fact, however, she failed to understand her cousin.
+Louise really loved to be nice to people, and to say nice thing's. It
+is true she schemed and intrigued to advance her personal welfare and
+position in life; but even her schemes were undertaken lightly and
+carelessly, and if they failed the girl would be the first to laugh at
+her disappointment and try to mend her fortunes. If others stood in
+her way she might not consider them at all; if she pledged her word,
+it might not always be profitable to keep it; but she liked to be on
+pleasant terms with everyone, and would be amiable to the last, no
+matter what happened. Comedy was her forte, rather than tragedy. If
+tragedy entered her life she would probably turn it into ridicule.
+Wholly without care, whimsical and generous to a degree, if it suited
+her mood, Louise Merrick possessed a nature capable of great things,
+either for good or ill.
+
+It was no wonder her unsophisticated country cousin failed to
+comprehend her, although Beth's intuition was not greatly at fault.
+
+Six o'clock found Beth wide awake, as usual; so she quietly dressed
+and, taking her book under her arm, started to make her way into the
+gardens. Despite Louise's cynicism she had no intention of abandoning
+her studies. She had decided to fit herself for a teacher before Aunt
+Jane's invitation had come to her, and this ambition would render it
+necessary for her to study hard during vacations.
+
+If she became an heiress she would not need to teach, but she was not
+at all confident of her prospects, and the girl's practical nature
+prompted her to carry out her plans until she was sure of the future.
+
+In the hall she met Phibbs, shuffling along as if in pain.
+
+"Good morning, miss," said the old servant.
+
+Beth looked at her thoughtfully. This was Aunt Jane's special and
+confidential attendant.
+
+"Do your feet hurt you?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, miss; in the mornin' they's awful bad. It's being on 'em all the
+day, 'tendin' to Miss Jane, you know. But after a time I gets more
+used to the pain, and don't feel it. The mornin's always the worst."
+
+She was passing on, but Beth stopped her.
+
+"Come into my room," she said, and led the way.
+
+Martha Phibbs followed reluctantly. Miss Jane might already be awake
+and demanding her services, and she could not imagine what the young
+lady wanted her for.
+
+But she entered the room, and Beth went to a box and brought out a
+bottle of lotion.
+
+"Mother has the same trouble that you complain of," she said,
+practically, "and here is a remedy that always gives her relief. I
+brought it with me in case I should take long tramps, and get sore
+feet."
+
+She gently pushed the old woman into a chair, and then, to Phibbs'
+utter amazement, knelt down and unfastened her shoes and drew off her
+stockings. A moment later she was rubbing the lotion upon the poor
+creature's swollen feet, paying no attention to Martha's horrified
+protests.
+
+"There. Now they're sure to feel better," said Beth, pulling the worn
+and darned stockings upon the woman's feet again. "And you must take
+this bottle to your room, and use it every night and morning."
+
+"Bless your dear heart!" cried Phibbs, while tears of gratitude stood
+in her faded eyes. "I'm sure I feel twenty years younger, a'ready. But
+you shouldn't 'a' done it, miss; indeed you shouldn't."
+
+"I'm glad to help you," said Beth, rinsing her hands at the wash stand
+and drying them upon a towel. "It would be cruel to let you suffer
+when I can ease your pain."
+
+"But what would Miss Jane say?" wailed old Martha, throwing up her
+hands in dismay.
+
+"She'll never know a thing about it. It's our secret, Martha, and I'm
+sure if I ever need a friend you'll do as much for me."
+
+"I'll do anything for you, Miss Elizabeth," was the reply, as the
+woman took the bottle of lotion and departed.
+
+Beth smiled.
+
+"That was not a bad thought," she said to herself, again starting for
+the gardens. "I have made a firm friend and done a kindly action at
+the same time--and all while Cousin Louise is fast asleep."
+
+The housekeeper let her out at the side door, after Beth had pressed
+her hand and kissed her good morning.
+
+"You're looking quite bonny, my dear," said the old woman. "Do you
+feel at home, at all, in this strange place?"
+
+"Not quite, as yet," answered Beth. "But I know I have one good friend
+here, and that comforts me."
+
+She found a path between high hedges, that wandered away through the
+grounds, and along this she strolled until she reached a rose arbor
+with a comfortable bench.
+
+Here she seated herself, looking around her curiously. The place
+seemed little frequented, but was kept with scrupulous care. Even
+at this hour, a little way off could be heard the "click-click!" of
+hedge-shears, and Beth noted how neatly the paths were swept, and how
+carefully every rose on the arbor was protected.
+
+Elmhurst was a beautiful place. Beth sighed as she wondered if it
+would ever be hers. Then she opened her book and began to work.
+
+During the next hour the click of the hedge-shears drew nearer, but
+the girl did not notice this. In another half hour James himself came
+into view, intent upon his monotonous task. Gradually the motionless
+form of the girl and the plodding figure of the gardener drew
+together, until he stood but two yards distant. Then he paused, looked
+toward the arbor, and uttered an exclamation.
+
+Beth looked up.
+
+"Good morning," she said, pleasantly.
+
+James stared at her, but made no reply save a slight inclination of
+his head.
+
+"Am I in your way?" she asked.
+
+He turned his back to her, then, and began clipping away as before.
+Beth sprang up and laid a hand upon his arm, arresting him. Again he
+turned to stare at her, and in his eyes was a look almost of fear.
+
+She drew back.
+
+"Why won't you speak to me?" enquired the girl, gently. "I'm a
+stranger at Elmhurst, but I want to be your friend. Won't you let me?"
+
+To her amazement James threw up his hands, letting the shears clatter
+to the ground, and with a hoarse cry turned and fled up the path as
+swiftly as he could go.
+
+Beth was really puzzled, but as she stood silently looking after the
+gardener she heard a soft laugh, and found old Misery beside her.
+
+"It's just his way, Miss; don't you be scared by anything that James
+does," said the woman. "Why, at times he won't even speak to Miss
+Jane."
+
+"He isn't dumb, is he?" asked Beth.
+
+"Lor', no! But he's that odd an' contrary he won't talk to a soul.
+Never did, since the day Master Tom was killed. James was travellin'
+with Master Tom, you know, and there was an accident, an' the train
+run off'n the track an' tipped over. James wasn't hurt at all, but he
+dragged Master Tom out'n the wreck and sat by him until he died. Then
+James brought Master Tom's body back home again; but his mind
+seemed to have got a shock, in some way, and he never was the same
+afterwards. He was powerful fond of young Master Tom. But then, we all
+was."
+
+"Poor man!" said Beth.
+
+"After that," resumed Misery, "all that James would do was to look
+after the flowers. Miss Jane, after she came, made him the head
+gardener, and he's proved a rare good one, too. But James he won't
+even talk to Miss Jane, nor even to his old friend Lawyer Watson, who
+used to be Master Tom's special chum an' comrade. He does his duty,
+and obeys all Miss Jane's orders as faithful as can be; but he won't
+talk, an' we've all give up tryin' to make him."
+
+"But why should I frighten him?" asked the girl.
+
+"You tried to make him talk, and you're a stranger. Strangers always
+affect James that way. I remember when Miss Jane first came to
+Elmhurst he screamed at the sight of her; but when he found out that
+Master Tom loved her and had given her Elmhurst, James followed her
+around like a dog, and did everything she told him to. But breakfast
+is ready, Miss. I came to call you."
+
+"Thank you," said Beth, turning to walk beside the housekeeper.
+
+According to Aunt Jane's instructions the breakfast was served in her
+own room, and presently Louise, dressed in a light silk kimona, came
+in bearing her tray "to keep her cousin company," she laughingly
+announced.
+
+"I should have slept an hour longer," she yawned, over her chocolate,
+"but old Misery--who seems rightly named--insisted on waking me, just
+that I might eat. Isn't this a funny establishment?"
+
+"It's different from everything I'm used to," answered Beth, gravely;
+"but it seems very pleasant here, and everyone is most kind and
+attentive."
+
+"Now I'll dress," said Louise, "and we'll take a long walk together,
+and see the place."
+
+So it happened that Kenneth clattered down the road on the sorrel mare
+just a moment before the girls emerged from the house, and while he
+was riding off his indignation at their presence at Elmhurst, they
+were doing just what his horrified imagination had depicted--that is,
+penetrating to all parts of the grounds, to every nook in the spacious
+old gardens and even to the stables, where Beth endeavored to make a
+friend of old Donald the coachman.
+
+However, the gray-whiskered Scotsman was not to be taken by storm,
+even by a pretty face. His loyalty to "the boy" induced him to be wary
+in associating with these strange "young females" and although he
+welcomed them to the stable with glum civility he withheld his opinion
+of them until he should know them better.
+
+In their rambles the girls found Kenneth's own stair, and were sitting
+upon it when Phibbs came to summon Louise to attend upon Aunt Jane.
+
+She obeyed with alacrity, for she wished to know more of the queer
+relative whose guest she had become.
+
+"Sit down," said Aunt Jane, very graciously, as the girl entered.
+
+Louise leaned over the chair, kissed her and patted her cheek
+affectionately, and then shook up the pillows to make them more
+comfortable.
+
+"I want you to talk to me," announced Aunt Jane, "and to tell me
+something of the city and the society in which you live. I've been so
+long dead to the world that I've lost track of people and things."
+
+"Let me dress your hair at the same time," said Louise, pleadingly.
+"It looks really frowsy, and I can talk while I work."
+
+"I can't lift my left hand," said the invalid, flushing, "and Phibbs
+is a stupid ass."
+
+"Never mind, I can make it look beautiful in half a jiffy," said the
+girl, standing behind the chair and drawing deftly the hairpins from
+Aunt Jane's scanty grey locks, "and you can't imagine how it pleases
+me to fuss over anyone."
+
+It was surprising how meekly Aunt Jane submitted to this ordeal, but
+she plied the girl with many shrewd questions and Louise, busily
+working in a position where the old woman could not see her face,
+never hesitated for an answer. She knew all the recent gossip of
+fashionable society, and retailed it glibly. She had met this
+celebrity at a ball and that one at a reception, and she described
+them minutely, realizing that Aunt Jane would never be in a position
+to contradict any assertion she might choose to make.
+
+Indeed, Aunt Jane was really startled.
+
+"However did your mother manage to gain an entree into society?" she
+asked. "Your father was a poor man and of little account. I know, for
+he was my own brother."
+
+"He left us a very respectable life insurance," said Louise, demurely,
+"and my mother had many friends who were glad to introduce us to good
+society when we were able to afford such a luxury. Father died twelve
+years ago, you know, and for several years, while I was at school,
+mother lived very quietly. Then she decided it was time I made my
+debut, but for the last season we have been rather gay, I admit."
+
+"Are you rich?" asked Aunt Jane, sharply.
+
+"Mercy, no!" laughed Louise, who had finished her work and now sat her
+aunt's feet. "But we have enough for our requirements, and that makes
+us feel quite independent. By the way, auntie, I want to return that
+check you sent me. It was awfully good and generous of you, but I
+didn't need it, you know, and so I want you to take it back."
+
+She drew the slip of paper from her pocket and pressed it into Aunt
+Jane's hand.
+
+"It's quite enough for you to give me this nice treat in the country,"
+resumed the girl, calmly. "The change from the city will do me a world
+of good, and as I wanted to be quiet, and rest I declined all my other
+invitations for the summer to accept yours. Isn't it glorious that we
+can get acquainted at last? And I quite love Elmhurst, already!"
+
+Aunt Jane was equally surprised and gratified. The return of the check
+for a hundred dollars was very pleasant. She had drawn a similar check
+for each of her three nieces, believing that it would be necessary for
+her to meet their expenses, and she had considered the expenditure in
+the nature of a business transaction. But Patricia had flung one check
+in her face, practically, and now Louise had voluntarily returned
+another, because she did not need the money. Really, Jane Merrick was
+accomplishing her purpose for less money than she had expected, and
+she had hoarded her wealth for so many years that she disliked to
+spend any of it foolishly.
+
+Louise had read her nature correctly. It had been a little hard to
+return so large a check, but the girl's policy was not to appear
+before Aunt Jane as a poor relation, but rather as a young lady fitted
+by social education and position to become a gracious mistress of
+Elmhurst. This she believed would give her a powerful advantage over
+all competitors.
+
+Whether she was right or not in this surmise it is certain that she
+rose several points in Aunt Jane's estimation during this interview,
+and when she was dismissed it was so graciously that she told herself
+the money her little plot had cost had been well expended.
+
+Afterward Elizabeth was summoned to attend her aunt.
+
+"I want to be amused. Can you read aloud?" said the invalid.
+
+"Not very well, I'm afraid. But I'll be glad to try," answered Beth.
+"What do you like?"
+
+"Select your own book," said Aunt Jane, pointing to a heap of volumes
+beside her.
+
+The girl hesitated. Louise would doubtless have chosen a romance, or
+some light tale sure to interest for the hour, and so amuse the old
+lady. But Beth erroneously judged that the aged and infirm love sober
+and scholarly books, and picked out a treatise that proved ineffably
+dull and tedious.
+
+Aunt Jane sniffed, and then smiled slyly and proceeded to settle
+herself for a nap. If the girl was a fool, let her be properly
+punished.
+
+Beth read for an hour, uncertain whether her aunt were intensely
+interested or really asleep. At the end of that dreadful period old
+Misery entered and aroused the sleeper without ceremony.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Aunt Jane, querrulously, for she resented
+being disturbed.
+
+"There's a man to see you, Miss."
+
+"Send him about his business!"
+
+"But--"
+
+"I won't see him, I tell you!"
+
+"But he says he's your brother, Miss."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Your brother."
+
+Miss Jane stared as if bewildered.
+
+"Your brother John, Miss."
+
+The invalid sank back upon her cushions with a sigh of resignation.
+
+"I thought he was dead, long ago; but if he's alive I suppose I'll
+have to see him," she said. "Elizabeth, leave the room. Misery, send
+the man here!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+UNCLE JOHN GETS ACQUAINTED.
+
+
+Beth went out to find Louise, and discovered her standing near the
+stables, where a boy was rubbing down the sides of a sorrel mare with
+wisps of straw.
+
+"Something has happened," she said to Louise in a troubled voice.
+
+"What?"
+
+"A man has arrived who says he is Aunt Jane's brother."
+
+"Impossible! Have you seen him?"
+
+"No; he says he's Aunt Jane's brother John."
+
+"Oh; I know. The peddler, or tinker, or something or other who
+disappeared years ago. But it doesn't matter."
+
+"It may matter a good deal," said practical Beth. "Aunt Jane may leave
+him her money."
+
+"Why, he's older than she is. I've heard mother say he was the eldest
+of the family. Aunt Jane wont leave her money to an old man, you may
+be sure."
+
+Beth felt a little reassured at this, and stood for a moment beside
+Louise watching the boy. Presently Oscar came to him, and after
+touching his hat respectfully took the mare and led her into the
+stable. The boy turned away, with his hands in his pockets, and
+strolled up a path, unaware that the two dreaded girls had been
+observing him.
+
+"I wonder who that is," said Beth.
+
+"We'll find out," returned Louise. "I took him for a stable boy, at
+first. But Oscar seemed to treat him as a superior."
+
+She walked into the stable, followed by her cousin, and found the
+groom tying the mare.
+
+"Who was the young man?" she asked.
+
+"Which young man, Miss?"
+
+"The one who has just arrived with the horse."
+
+"Oh; that's Master Kenneth, Miss," answered Oscar, with a grin.
+
+"Where did he come from?"
+
+"Master Kenneth? Why, he lives here."
+
+"At the house?"
+
+"Yes, Miss."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"Master Tom's nephew--he as used to own Elmhurst, you know."
+
+"Mr. Thomas Bradley?"
+
+"The same, Miss."
+
+"Ah. How long has Master Kenneth lived here?"
+
+"A good many years. I can't just remember how long."
+
+"Thank you, Oscar."
+
+The girls walked away, and when they were alone Louise remarked:
+
+"Here is a more surprising discovery than Uncle John, Beth. The boy
+has a better right than any of us to inherit Elmhurst."
+
+"Then why did Aunt Jane send for us?"
+
+"It's a mystery, dear. Let us try to solve it."
+
+"Come; we'll ask the housekeeper," said Beth. "I'm sure old Misery
+will tell us all we want to know."
+
+So they returned to the house and, with little difficulty, found the
+old housekeeper.
+
+"Master Kenneth?" she exclaimed. "Why, he's just Master Tom's nephew,
+that's all."
+
+"Is this his home?" asked Beth.
+
+"All the home he's got, my dear. His father and mother are both dead,
+and Miss Jane took him to care for just because she thought Master Tom
+would 'a' liked it."
+
+"Is she fond of him?" enquired Louise.
+
+"Fond of the boy? Why, Miss Jane just hates him, for a fact. She won't
+even see him, or have him near her. So he keeps to his little room in
+the left wing, and eats and sleeps there."
+
+"It's strange," remarked Beth, thoughtfully. "Isn't he a nice boy?"
+
+"We're all very fond of Master Kenneth," replied the housekeeper,
+simply. "But I'll admit he's a queer lad, and has a bad temper. It may
+be due to his lack of bringin' up, you know; for he just runs wild,
+and old Mr. Chase, who comes from the village to tutor him, is a poor
+lot, and lets the boy do as he pleases. For that reason he won't
+study, and he won't work, and I'm sure I don't know whatever will
+become of him, when Miss Jane dies."
+
+"Thank you," said Beth, much relieved, and the girls walked away with
+lighter hearts.
+
+"There's no danger in that quarter, after all," said Louise, gaily.
+"The boy is a mere hanger-on. You see, Aunt Jane's old sweetheart,
+Thomas Bradley, left everything to her when he died, and she can do as
+she likes with it."
+
+After luncheon, which they ate alone and unattended save by the maid
+Susan, who was old Misery's daughter, the girls walked away to
+the rose arbor, where Beth declared they could read or sew quite
+undisturbed.
+
+But sitting upon the bench they found a little old man, his legs
+extended, his hands thrust deep into his pockets, and a look of calm
+meditation upon his round and placid face. Between his teeth was a
+black brier pipe, which he puffed lazily.
+
+Beth was for drawing back, but Louise took her arm and drew her
+forward.
+
+"Isn't this Uncle John?" she asked.
+
+The little man turned his eyes upon them, withdrew his hands from his
+pockets and his pipe from his mouth, and then bowed profoundly.
+
+"If you are my nieces, then I am Uncle John," he said, affably. "Sit
+down, my dears, and let us get acquainted."
+
+Louise smiled, and her rapid survey took in the man's crumpled and
+somewhat soiled shirt-front, the frayed black necktie that seemed to
+have done years of faithful service, and the thick and dusty cow-hide
+boots. His clothing was old and much worn, and the thought crossed
+her mind that Oscar the groom was far neater in appearance than this
+newly-found relative.
+
+Beth merely noticed that Uncle John was neither dignified nor imposing
+in appearance. She sat down beside him--leaving a wide space between
+them--with a feeling of disappointment that he was "like all the rest
+of the Merricks."
+
+"You have just arrived, we hear," remarked Louise.
+
+"Yes. Walked up from the station this forenoon," said Uncle John.
+"Come to see Jane, you know, but hadn't any idea I'd find two nieces.
+Hadn't any idea I possessed two nieces, to be honest about it."
+
+"I believe you have three," said Louise, in an, amused tone.
+
+"Three? Who's the other?"
+
+"Why, Patricia Doyle."
+
+"Doyle? Doyle? Don't remember the name."
+
+"I believe your sister Violet married a man named Doyle."
+
+"So she did. Captain Doyle--or Major Doyle--or some such fellow. But
+what is your name?"
+
+"I am Louise Merrick, your brother Will's daughter."
+
+"Oh! And you?" turning to Beth.
+
+"My mother was Julia Merrick," said Beth, not very graciously. "She
+married Professor DeGraf. I am Elizabeth DeGraf."
+
+"Yes, yes," observed Uncle John, nodding his head. "I remember Julia
+very well, as a girl. She used to put on a lot of airs, and jaw father
+because he wouldn't have the old top-buggy painted every spring. Same
+now as ever, I s'pose?"
+
+Beth did not reply.
+
+"And Will's dead, and out of his troubles, I hope," continued Uncle
+John, reflectively. "He wrote me once that his wife had nearly driven
+him crazy. Perhaps she murdered him in his sleep--eh, Louise?"
+
+"Sir," said Louise, much offended, "you are speaking of my mother."
+
+"Ah, yes. It's the same one your father spoke of," he answered,
+unmoved. "But that's neither here nor there. The fact is, I've found
+two nieces," looking shrewdly from one face into the other, "and I
+seem to be in luck, for you're quite pretty and ladylike, my dears."
+
+"Thank you," said Louise, rather coldly. "You're a competent judge,
+sir, I suppose."
+
+"Tolerable," he responded, with a chuckle. "So good a judge that I've
+kep' single all my life."
+
+"Where did you come from?" asked the girl.
+
+"From out on the coast," tossing his grizzled head toward the west.
+
+"What brought you back here, after all these years?"
+
+"Family affection, I guess. Wanted to find out what folks yet belonged
+to me."
+
+An awkward silence followed this, during which Uncle John relighted
+his pipe and Beth sat in moody silence. Louise drew a pattern in the
+gravel with the end of her parasol. This new uncle, she reflected,
+might become an intolerable bore, if she encouraged his frank
+familiarity.
+
+"Now that you are here," she said, presently, "what are you going to
+do?"
+
+"Nothing, my dear."
+
+"Have you any money?"
+
+He looked at her with a droll expression.
+
+"Might have expected that question, my dear," said he; "but it's
+rather hard to answer. If I say no, you'll be afraid I'll want to
+borrow a little spendin' money, now an' then; and if I say yes, you'll
+take me for a Rockyfeller."
+
+"Not exactly," smiled Louise.
+
+"Well, then, if I figure close I won't have to borrow," he responded,
+gravely. "And here's Jane, my sister, just rolling in wealth that she
+don't know what to do with. And she's invited me to stay a while. So
+let's call the money question settled, my dear."
+
+Another silence ensued. Louise had satisfied her curiosity concerning
+her new uncle, and Beth had never had any. There was nothing more to
+say, and as Uncle John showed no intention of abandoning the arbored
+seat, it was evident they must go themselves. Louise was about to rise
+when the man remarked:
+
+"Jane won't last long".
+
+"You think not?" she asked.
+
+"She says she's half dead a'ready, and I believe it. It's about time,
+you know. She's let her temper and restless disposition wear her out.
+Pretty soon she'll blow out, like a candle. All that worries her is to
+keep alive until she can decide who to leave her money to. That's why
+you're here, I s'pose, my dears. How do you like being on exhibition,
+an' goin' through your paces, like a bunch o' trotting hosses, to see
+which is worth the most?"
+
+"Uncle John," said Beth, "I had hoped I would like you. But if you are
+going to be so very disagreeable, I'll have nothing more to do with
+you!"
+
+With this she arose and marched up the path, vastly indignant, and
+Louise marched beside her. At the bend in the walk they glanced back,
+and saw Uncle John sitting upon the bench all doubled up and shaking
+with silent laughter.
+
+"He's a queer old man," said Beth, flushing; "but he's impudent and
+half a fool."
+
+"Don't judge hastily, Beth," replied Louise, reflectively. "I can't
+make up my mind, just yet, whether Uncle John is a fool or not."
+
+"Anyhow," snapped Beth, "he's laughing at us."
+
+"And that," said her cousin, softly, "is the strongest evidence of his
+sanity. Beth, my love, Aunt Jane has placed us in a most ridiculous
+position."
+
+That evening at dinner they met Uncle John again, seated opposite Aunt
+Jane in the great dining hall. The mistress of Elmhurst always dressed
+for this meal and tonight she wore a rich black silk and had her
+invalid chair wheeled to her place at the head of the table. Uncle
+John had simply changed his old black necktie for a soiled white one.
+Otherwise his apparel was the same as before, and his stubby gray hair
+was in a sad state of disarray. But his round face wore a cheerful
+smile, nevertheless, and Aunt Jane seemed not to observe anything
+_outre_ in her brother's appearance. And so the meal passed pleasantly
+enough.
+
+After it was finished Uncle John strolled into the garden to smoke his
+pipe under the stars and Louise sang a few songs for Aunt Jane in the
+dimly-lit drawing room. Beth, who was a music teacher's daughter,
+could not sing at all.
+
+It was some time later when John Merrick came to his sister's room to
+bid her good night.
+
+"Well," she asked him, "what do you think of the girls?"
+
+"My nieces?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"During my lifetime," said the old man, "I've always noticed that
+girls are just girls--and nothing more. Jane, your sex is a puzzle
+that ain't worth the trouble solving. You're all alike, and what
+little I've seen of my nieces convinces me they're regulation
+females--no better nor worse than their kind."
+
+"Louise seems a capable girl," declared Aunt Jane, musingly. "I didn't
+care much for her, at first; but she improves on acquaintance. She has
+been well trained by her mother, and is very ladylike and agreeable."
+
+"She's smarter than the other one, but not so honest," said Uncle
+John.
+
+"Beth has no tact at all," replied Aunt Jane. "But then, she's younger
+than Louise."
+
+"If you're trying to figure out what they are, and what they are not,"
+returned the man, "you've got a hard job on your hands, Jane, and like
+as not you'll make a mistake in the end. Where's the other niece?
+Aren't there three of them?"
+
+"Yes. The other's coming. Silas Watson, my lawyer, has just
+telegraphed from New York that he's bringing Patricia back with him."
+
+"Had to send for her, eh?"
+
+"Yes. She's Irish, and if I remember rightly her father is a
+disgraceful old reprobate, who caused poor Violet no end of worry. The
+girl may be like him, for she wrote me a dreadful letter, scolding me
+because I hadn't kept her parents supplied with money, and refusing to
+become my guest."
+
+"But she's changed her mind?"
+
+"I sent Watson after her, and he's bringing her. I wanted to see what
+the girl is like."
+
+Uncle John whistled a few bars of an ancient tune.
+
+"My advice is," he said, finally, "to let 'em draw cuts for Elmhurst.
+If you want to leave your money to the best o' the lot, you're as sure
+of striking it right that way as any other."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Jane Merrick, sharply. "I don't want to leave my
+money to the best of the lot."
+
+"No?"
+
+"By no means. I want to leave it to the one I prefer--whether she's
+the best or not."
+
+"I see. Jane, I'll repeat my former observation. Your sex is a puzzle
+that isn't worth solving. Good night, old girl."
+
+"Good night, John."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE OTHER NIECE.
+
+
+Patricia sat down opposite her Aunt Jane. She still wore her hat and
+the gray wrap.
+
+"Well, here I am," she exclaimed, with a laugh; "but whether I ought
+to be here or not I have my doubts."
+
+Aunt Jane surveyed her critically.
+
+"You're a queer little thing," she said, bluntly. "I wonder why I took
+so much trouble to get you."
+
+"So do I," returned Patsy, her eyes twinkling. "You'll probably be
+sorry for it."
+
+Lawyer Watson, who had remained standing, now broke in nervously.
+
+"I explained to Miss Doyle," said he, "that you were ill, and wanted
+to see her. And she kindly consented to come to Elmhurst for a few
+days."
+
+"You see," said Patsy, "I'd just got Daddy away on his vacation, to
+visit his old colonel. I've wanted him to go this three years back,
+but he couldn't afford it until I got a raise this Spring. He'll have
+a glorious old time with the colonel, and they'll fish and hunt and
+drink whiskey all day, and fight the war all over again every evening.
+So I was quite by myself when Mr. Watson came to me and wouldn't take
+no for his answer."
+
+"Why did you object to come here?" asked Aunt Jane.
+
+"Well, I didn't know you; and I didn't especially want to know you.
+Not that I bear grudges, understand, although you've been little of a
+friend to my folks these past years. But you are rich and proud--and I
+suspect you're a little cross, Aunt Jane--while we are poor and proud
+and like to live our lives in our own way."
+
+"Are you a working girl?" enquired Miss Merrick.
+
+"Surely," said Patsy, "and drawing a big lump of salary every Saturday
+night. I'm a hair-dresser, you know--and by the way, Aunt Jane, it
+puzzles me to find a certain kink in your hair that I thought I'd
+invented myself."
+
+"Louise dressed my hair this way," said Miss Merrick, a bit stiffly.
+
+"Your maid?"
+
+"My niece, Louise Merrick."
+
+Patsy whistled, and then clapped her hand over her mouth and looked
+grave.
+
+"Is she here?" she asked, a moment later.
+
+"Yes, and your other cousin, Elizabeth De Graf, is here also."
+
+"That's just the trouble," cried Patsy, energetically. "That's why I
+didn't want to come, you know."
+
+"I don't understand you, Patricia."
+
+"Why, it's as plain as the nose on your face, even if I hadn't pumped
+Mr. Watson until I got the truth out of him. You want us girls here
+just to compare us with each other, and pick out the one you like
+best."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The others you'll throw over, and the favorite will get your money."
+
+"Haven't I a right to do that?" asked the invalid, in an amazed tone.
+
+"Perhaps you have. But we may as well understand each other right
+now, Aunt Jane. I won't touch a penny of your money, under any
+circumstances."
+
+"I don't think you will, Patricia."
+
+The girl laughed, with a joyous, infectious merriment that was hard to
+resist.
+
+"Stick to that, aunt, and there's no reason we shouldn't be friends,"
+she said, pleasantly. "I don't mind coming to see you, for it will
+give me a bit of a rest and the country is beautiful just now. More
+than that, I believe I shall like you. You've had your own way a long
+time, and you've grown crochetty and harsh and disagreeable; but there
+are good lines around your mouth and eyes, and your nature's liable to
+soften and get sunny again. I'm sure I hope so. So, if you'd like me
+to stay a few days, I'll take off my things and make myself at home.
+But I'm out of the race for your money, and I'll pay my way from now
+on just as I have always done."
+
+Silas Watson watched Aunt Jane's face during this speech with an
+anxious and half-frightened expression upon his own. No one but
+himself had ever dared to talk to Jane Merrick as plainly as this
+before, and he wondered how she would accept such frankness from a
+young girl.
+
+But Patricia's manner was not at all offensive. Her big eyes were
+as frank as her words, but they glistened with kindliness and good
+nature, and it was evident the girl had no doubt at all of her aunt's
+reply, for she straightway begun to take off her hat.
+
+The invalid had kept her eyes sternly fastened upon her young niece
+ever since the beginning of the interview. Now she reached out a hand
+and touched her bell.
+
+"Misery," she said to the old housekeeper, "show my niece, Miss
+Patricia, to the rose chamber. And see that she is made comfortable."
+
+"Thank you," said Patsy, jumping up to go.
+
+"Make yourself perfectly free of the place," continued Aunt Jane, in
+an even tone, turning to Patricia, "and have as good a time as you
+can. I'm afraid it's rather stupid here for girls, but that can't be
+helped. Stay as long as you please, and go home whenever you like; but
+while you are here, if you ever feel like chatting with a harsh
+and disagreeable old woman, come to me at any time and you will be
+welcome."
+
+Patsy, standing before her, looked down into her worn face with a
+pitying expression.
+
+"Ah! I've been cruel to you," she exclaimed, impulsively, "and I
+didn't mean to hurt you at all, Aunt Jane. You must forgive me. It's
+just my blunt Irish way, you see; but if I hadn't been drawn to you
+from the first I wouldn't have said a word--good or bad!"
+
+"Go now," replied Aunt Jane, turning in her chair rather wearily. "But
+come to me again whenever you like."
+
+Patsy nodded, and followed the housekeeper to the rose chamber--the
+prettiest room old Elmhurst possessed, with broad windows opening
+directly upon the finest part of the garden.
+
+Lawyer Watson sat opposite his old friend for some moments in
+thoughtful silence. "The child is impossible." he said, at last.
+
+"You think so?" she enquired, moodily.
+
+"Absolutely. Either of the others would make a better Lady of
+Elmhurst. Yet I like the little thing, I confess. She quite won my old
+heart after I had known her for five minutes. But money would ruin
+her. She's a child of the people, and ought not to be raised from her
+proper level. Jane, Jane--you're making a grave mistake in all this.
+Why don't you do the only right thing in your power, and leave
+Elmhurst to Kenneth?"
+
+"You bore me, Silas," she answered, coldly. "The boy is the most
+impossible of all."
+
+It was the old protest and the old reply. He had hardly expected
+anything different.
+
+After a period of thought he asked;
+
+"What is this I hear about John Merrick having returned from the
+West?"
+
+"He came yesterday. It was a great surprise to me."
+
+"I never knew this brother, I believe."
+
+"No; he had gone away before I became acquainted with either you or
+Tom."
+
+"What sort of a man is he?"
+
+"Honest and simple, hard-headed and experienced."
+
+"Is he independent?"
+
+"I believe so; he has never mentioned his affairs to me. But he has
+worked hard all his life, he says, and now means to end his days
+peacefully. John is not especially refined in his manner, nor did he
+have much of an education; but he seems to be a good deal of a man,
+for all that. I am very glad he appeared at Elmhurst just at this
+time."
+
+"You had believed him dead?"
+
+"Yes. He had passed out of my life completely, and I never knew what
+became of him."
+
+"He must be an eccentric person," said Mr. Watson, with a smile.
+
+"He is." she acknowledged. "But blood is thicker than water, Silas,
+and I'm glad brother John is here at last."
+
+A little later the lawyer left her and picked his way through the
+gardens until he came to Kenneth's wing and the stair that led to
+his room. Here he paused a moment, finding himself surrounded by a
+profound stillness, broken only by the chirping of the birds in the
+shrubbery. Perhaps Kenneth was not in. He half decided to retrace
+his steps, but finally mounted the stair softly and stood within the
+doorway of the room.
+
+The boy and a little stout man were playing chess at a table, and both
+were in a deep study of the game. The boy's back was toward him, but
+the man observed the newcomer and gave a nod. Then he dropped his eyes
+again to the table.
+
+Kenneth was frowning sullenly.
+
+"You're bound to lose the pawn, whichever way you play," said the
+little man quietly.
+
+The boy gave an angry cry, and thrust the table from him, sending the
+chess-men clattering into a corner. Instantly the little man leaned
+over and grasped the boy by the collar, and with a sudden jerk landed
+him across his own fat knees. Then, while the prisoner screamed and
+struggled, the man brought his hand down with a slap that echoed
+throughout the room, and continued the operation until Master Kenneth
+had received a sound spanking.
+
+Then he let the boy slip to the floor, from whence he arose slowly and
+backed toward the door, scowling and muttering angrily.
+
+"You broke the bargain, and I kept my word," said Uncle John, calmly
+taking his pipe from his pocket and filling it. "The compact was that
+if you raised a rough-house, like you did yesterday, and got unruly,
+that I'd give you a good thrashing. Now, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes," acknowledged the boy.
+
+"Well, that blamed temper o' your'n got away with you again, and
+you're well spanked for not heading it off. Pick up the board. Ken, my
+lad, and let's try it again."
+
+The boy hesitated. Then he looked around and saw Lawyer Watson, who
+had stood motionless by the doorway, and with a cry that was half a
+sob Kenneth threw himself into his old friend's arms and burst into a
+flood of tears.
+
+Uncle John struck a match, and lighted his pipe.
+
+"A bargain's a bargain," he observed, composedly.
+
+"He whipped me!" sobbed the boy. "He whipped me like a child."
+
+"Your own fault," said Uncle John. "You wanted me to play a game with
+you, and I agreed, providin' you behaved yourself. And you didn't.
+Now, look here. Do you blame me any?"
+
+"No," said the boy.
+
+"No harm's done, is there?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then stop blubberin', and introduce me to your friend," continued
+Uncle John. "Name's Watson, ain't it."
+
+"Silas Watson, sir, at your service," said the lawyer, smiling. "And
+this must be John Merrick, who I understand has arrived at Elmhurst
+during my absence."
+
+"Exactly," said Uncle John, and the two men shook hands cordially.
+
+"Glad to welcome you to Elmhurst, sir," continued the lawyer. "I've
+known it ever since I was a boy, when it belonged to my dear friend
+Thomas Bradley. And I hope you'll love it as much as I do, when you
+know it better."
+
+"Bradley must have been a fool to give this place to Jane," said Uncle
+John, reflectively.
+
+"He was in love, sir," observed the other, and they both smiled. Then
+the lawyer turned to Kenneth. "How are things going?" he asked. "Have
+the girls bothered you much, as yet?"
+
+"No," said the boy. "I keep out of their way."
+
+"That's a good idea. By the bye, sir," turning to John Merrick. "I've
+just brought you a new niece."
+
+"Patricia?"
+
+"She prefers to be called Patsy. A queer little thing; half Irish, you
+know."
+
+"And half Merrick. That's an odd combination, but the Irish may be
+able to stand it," said Uncle John. "These nieces are more than I
+bargained for. I came to see one relative, and find three more--and
+all women!"
+
+"I think you'll like Patsy, anyhow. And so will you, Kenneth."
+
+The boy gave an indignant roar.
+
+"I hate all girls!" he said.
+
+"You won't hate this one. She's as wild and impulsive as you are, but
+better natured. She'll make a good comrade, although she may box your
+ears once in a while."
+
+The boy turned away sulkily, and began picking up the scattered
+chess-men. The two men walked down the stair and strolled together
+through the garden.
+
+"A strange boy," said Uncle John, presently.
+
+"I'm glad to see you've made friends with him," replied the lawyer,
+earnestly. "Until now he has had no one to befriend him but me, and at
+times he's so unmanageable that it worries me dreadfully."
+
+"There's considerable character about the lad," said John Merrick;
+"but he's been spoiled and allowed to grow up wild, like a weed. He's
+got it in him to make a criminal or a gentleman, whichever way his
+nature happens to develop."
+
+"He ought to go to a military school," replied Lawyer Watson. "Proper
+training would make a man of Kenneth; but I can't induce Jane to spend
+the money on him. She gives him food and clothing and lodging--all
+of the simplest description--but there her generosity ends. With
+thousands of dollars lying idle, she won't assist the only nephew of
+Tom Bradley to secure a proper education."
+
+"Jane's queer, too," said that lady's brother, with a sigh. "In fact,
+Mr. Watson, it's a queer world, and the longer I live in it the
+queerer I find it. Once I thought it would be a good idea to regulate
+things myself and run the world as it ought to be run; but I gave it
+up long ago. The world's a stage, they say; but the show ain't always
+amusing, by a long chalk, and sometimes I wish I didn't have a
+reserved seat."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+KENNETH IS FRIGHTENED.
+
+
+Lawyer Watson, unable to direct events at Elmhurst, became a silent
+spectator of the little comedy being enacted there, and never
+regretted that, as Uncle John expressed it, he "had a reserved seat at
+the show."
+
+Jane Merrick, formerly the most imperious and irrascible of women, had
+become wonderfully reserved since the arrival of her nieces, and was
+evidently making a sincere effort to study their diverse characters.
+Day by day the invalid's health was failing visibly. She had no more
+strokes of paralysis, but her left limb did not recover, and the
+numbness was gradually creeping upward toward her heart.
+
+Perhaps the old woman appreciated this more fully than anyone else. At
+any event, she became more gentle toward Phibbs and Misery, who mostly
+attended her, and showed as much consideration as possible for her
+nieces and her brother. Silas Watson she kept constantly by her side.
+He was her oldest and most trusted friend, and the only differences
+they had ever had were over the boy Kenneth, whom she stubbornly
+refused to favor.
+
+Uncle John speedily became an established fixture at the place. The
+servants grew accustomed to seeing him wander aimlessly about the
+grounds, his pipe always in his mouth, his hands usually in his
+pockets. He had a pleasant word always for Donald or Oscar or James,
+but was not prone to long conversations. Every evening, when he
+appeared at dinner, he wore his soiled white tie; at other times
+the black one was always in evidence; but other than this his dress
+underwent no change. Even Kenneth came to wonder what the bundle had
+contained that Uncle John brought under his arm to Elmhurst.
+
+The little man seemed from the first much attracted by his three
+nieces. Notwithstanding Louise's constant snubs and Beth's haughty
+silence he was sure to meet them when they strolled out and try to
+engage them in conversation. It was hard to resist his simple good
+nature, and the girls came in time to accept him as an inevitable
+companion, and Louise mischievously poked fun at him while Beth
+conscientiously corrected him in his speech and endeavored to improve
+his manners. All this seemed very gratifying to Uncle John. He thanked
+Beth very humbly for her kind attention, and laughed with Louise when
+she ridiculed his pudgy, round form and wondered if his bristly gray
+hair wouldn't make a good scrubbing brush.
+
+Patsy didn't get along very well with her cousins. From the first,
+when Louise recognized her, with well assumed surprise, as "the girl
+who had been sent to dress her hair," Patricia declared that their
+stations in life were entirely different.
+
+"There's no use of our getting mixed up, just because we're cousins
+and all visiting Aunt Jane," she said. "One of you will get her money,
+for I've told her I wouldn't touch a penny of it, and she has told me
+I wouldn't get the chance. So one of you will be a great lady, while I
+shall always earn my own living. I'll not stay long, anyhow; so just
+forget I'm here, and I'll amuse myself and try not to bother you."
+
+Both Beth and Louise considered this very sensible, and took Patricia
+at her word. Moreover, Phibbs had related to Beth, whose devoted
+adherent she was, all of the conversation between Aunt Jane and
+Patricia, from which the girls learned they had nothing to fear from
+their cousin's interference. So they let her go her way, and the three
+only met at the state dinners, which Aunt Jane still attended, in
+spite of her growing weakness.
+
+Old Silas Watson, interested as he was in the result, found it hard to
+decide, after ten days, which of her nieces Jane Merrick most favored.
+Personally he preferred that Beth should inherit, and frankly told his
+old friend that the girl would make the best mistress of Elmhurst.
+Moreover, all the servants sang Beth's praises, from Misery and Phibbs
+down to Oscar and Susan. Of course James the gardener favored no one,
+as the numerous strangers at Elmhurst kept him in a constant state of
+irritation, and his malady seemed even worse than usual. He avoided
+everyone but his mistress, and although his work was now often
+neglected Miss Merrick made no complaint. James' peculiarities were
+well understood and aroused nothing but sympathy.
+
+Louise, however, had played her cards so well that all Beth's friends
+were powerless to eject the elder girl from Aunt Jane's esteem. Louise
+had not only returned the check to her aunt, but she came often to sit
+beside her and cheer her with a budget of new social gossip, and no
+one could arrange the pillows so comfortably or stroke the tired head
+so gently as Louise. And then, she was observing, and called Aunt
+Jane's attention to several ways of curtailing the household
+expenditures, which the woman's illness had forced her to neglect.
+
+So Miss Merrick asked Louise to look over the weekly accounts, and in
+this way came to depend upon her almost as much as she did upon Lawyer
+Watson.
+
+As for Patsy, she made no attempt whatever to conciliate her aunt, who
+seldom mentioned her name to the others but always brightened visibly
+when the girl came into her presence with her cheery speeches and
+merry laughter. She never stayed long, but came and went, like a
+streak of sunshine, whenever the fancy seized her; and Silas Watson,
+shrewdly looking on, saw a new light in Jane's eyes as she looked
+after her wayward, irresponsible niece, and wondered if the bargain
+between them, regarding the money, would really hold good.
+
+It was all an incomprehensible problem, this matter of the
+inheritance, and although the lawyer expected daily to be asked to
+draw up Jane Merrick's will, and had, indeed, prepared several forms,
+to be used in case of emergency, no word had yet passed her lips
+regarding her intentions.
+
+Kenneth's life, during this period, was one of genuine misery. It
+seemed to his morbid fancy that whatever path he might take, he was
+sure of running upon one or more of those detestable girls who were
+visiting at Elmhurst. Even in Donald's harness-room he was not secure
+from interruption, for little Patsy was frequently perched upon the
+bench there, watching with serious eyes old Donald's motions, and
+laughing joyously when in his embarrassment he overturned a can of oil
+or buckled the wrong straps together.
+
+Worse than all, this trying creature would saddle Nora, the sorrel
+mare, and dash away through the lanes like a tom-boy, leaving him
+only old Sam to ride--for Donald would allow no one to use the coach
+horses. Sam was tall and boney, and had an unpleasant gait, so that
+the boy felt he was thoroughly justified in hating the girl who so
+frequently interfered with his whims.
+
+Louise was at first quite interested in Kenneth, and resolved to force
+him to talk and become more sociable.
+
+She caught him in a little summer-house one morning, from whence,
+there being but one entrance, he could not escape, and at once entered
+into conversation.
+
+"Ah, you are Kenneth Forbes, I suppose," she began, pleasantly. "I
+am very glad to make your acquaintance. I am Louise Merrick, Miss
+Merrick's niece, and have come to visit her."
+
+The boy shrank back as fur as possible, staring her full in the face,
+but made no reply.
+
+"You needn't be afraid of me," continued Louise. "I'm very fond of
+boys, and you must be nearly my own age."
+
+Still no reply.
+
+"I suppose you don't know much of girls and are rather shy," she
+persisted. "But I want to be friendly and I hope you'll let me.
+There's so much about this interesting old place that you can tell me,
+having lived here so many years. Come, I'll sit beside you on this
+bench, and we'll have a good talk together."
+
+"Go away!" cried the boy, hoarsely, raising his hands as if to ward
+off her approach.
+
+Louise looked surprised and pained.
+
+"Why, we are almost cousins," she said. "Cannot we become friends and
+comrades?"
+
+With a sudden bound he dashed her aside, so rudely that she almost
+fell, and an instant later he had left the summer house and disappear
+among the hedges.
+
+Louise laughed at her own discomfiture and gave up the attempt to make
+the boy's acquaintance.
+
+"He's a regular savage," she told Beth, afterward, "and a little
+crazy, too, I suspect."
+
+"Never mind," said Beth, philosophically. "He's only a boy, and
+doesn't amount to anything, anyway. After Aunt Jane dies he will
+probably go somewhere else to live. Don't let us bother about him."
+
+Kenneth's one persistent friend was Uncle John. He came every day
+to the boy's room to play chess with him, and after that one day's
+punishment, which, singularly enough, Kenneth in no way resented, they
+got along very nicely together. Uncle John was a shrewd player of the
+difficult game, but the boy was quick as a flash to see an advantage
+and use it against his opponent; so neither was ever sure of winning
+and the interest in the game was constantly maintained. At evening
+also the little man often came to sit on the stair outside the boy's
+room and smoke his pipe, and frequently they would sit beneath the
+stars, absorbed in thought and without exchanging a single word.
+
+Unfortunately, Louise and Beth soon discovered the boy's secluded
+retreat, and loved to torment him by entering his own bit of garden
+and even ascending the stairs to his little room. He could easily
+escape them by running through the numerous upper halls of the
+mansion; but here he was liable to meet others, and his especial dread
+was encountering old Miss Merrick. So he conceived a plan for avoiding
+the girls in another way.
+
+In the hallway of the left wing, near his door, was a small ladder
+leading to the second story roof, and a dozen feet from the edge of
+the roof stood an old oak tree, on the further side of a tall hedge.
+Kenneth managed to carry a plank to the roof, where, after several
+attempts, he succeeded in dropping one end into a crotch of the oak,
+thus connecting the edge of the roof with the tree by means of the
+narrow plank. After this, at first sight of the girls in his end of
+the garden, he fled to the roof, ran across the improvised bridge,
+"shinned" down the tree and, hidden by the hedge, made good his
+escape.
+
+The girls discovered this plan, and were wicked enough to surprise the
+boy often and force him to cross the dizzy plank to the tree. Having
+frightened him away they would laugh and stroll on, highly amused at
+the evident fear they aroused in the only boy about the place.
+
+Patricia, who was not in the other girls' secret, knew nothing of this
+little comedy and really disturbed Kenneth least of the three. But he
+seemed to avoid her as much as he did the others.
+
+She sooned learned from Oscar that the boy loved to ride as well as
+she did, and once or twice she met him on a lonely road perched on top
+of big Sam. This led her to suspect she had thoughtlessly deprived him
+of his regular mount. So one morning she said to the groom:
+
+"Doesn't Kenneth usually ride Nora?"
+
+"Yes, Miss," answered the man.
+
+"Then I'd better take Sam this morning," she decided.
+
+But the groom demurred.
+
+"You won't like Sam, Miss," he said, "and he gets ugly at times and
+acts bad. Master Kenneth won't use Nora today, I'm sure."
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"I think I'll ask him," said she, after a moment, and turned away into
+the garden, anxious to have this plausible opportunity to speak to the
+lonely boy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+PATSY MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT.
+
+
+"Get out of here!" shouted the boy, angrily, as Patsy appeared at the
+foot of his stair.
+
+"I won't!" she answered indignantly. "I've come to speak to you about
+the mare, and you'll just treat me decently or I'll know the reason
+why!"
+
+But he didn't wait to hear this explanation. He saw her advancing up
+the stairs, and fled in his usual hasty manner to the hall and up the
+ladder to the roof.
+
+Patsy stepped back into the garden, vexed at his flight, and the next
+instant she saw him appear, upon the sloping roof and start to run
+down the plank.
+
+Even as she looked the boy slipped, fell headlong, and slid swiftly
+downward. In a moment he was over the edge, clutching wildly at the
+plank, which was a foot or more beyond his reach. Headforemost he
+dove into space, but the clutching hand found something at last--the
+projecting hook of an old eaves-trough that had long since been
+removed--and to this he clung fast in spite of the jerk of his
+arrested body, which threatened to tear away his grip.
+
+But his plight was desperate, nevertheless. He was dangling in space,
+the hard pavement thirty feet below him, with no possible way of
+pulling himself up to the roof again. And the hook was so small that
+there was no place for his other hand. The only way he could cling
+to it at all was to grasp his wrist with the free hand as a partial
+relief from the strain upon his arm.
+
+"Hold fast!" called Patsy. "I'm coming."
+
+She sprang up the steps, through the boy's room and into the hallway.
+There she quickly perceived the ladder, and mounted it to the roof.
+Taking in the situation at a glance she ran with steady steps down
+the sloping roof to where the plank lay, and stepped out upon it far
+enough to see the boy dangling beside her. Then she decided instantly
+what to do.
+
+"Hang on!" she called, and returning to the roof dragged the end of
+the plank to a position directly over the hook. Then she lay flat upon
+it, an arm on either side of the plank, and reaching down seized one
+of the boy's wrists firmly in each hand.
+
+"Now, then," said she, "let go the hook."
+
+"If I do," answered the boy, his white face upturned to hers, "I'll
+drag you down with me."
+
+"No you won't. I'm very strong, and I'm sure I can save you. Let go,"
+she said, imperatively.
+
+"I'm not afraid to die," replied the boy, his voice full of
+bitterness. "Take away your hands, and I'll drop."
+
+But Patsy gripped him more firmly than ever.
+
+"Don't be a fool!" she cried. "There's no danger whatever, if you do
+just what I tell you."
+
+His eyes met hers in a mute appeal; but suddenly he gained confidence,
+and resolved to trust her. In any event, he could not cling to the
+hook much longer.
+
+He released his hold, and swung in mid-air just beneath the plank,
+where the girl lay holding him by his wrists.
+
+"Now, then," she said, quietly, "when I lift you up, grab the edges of
+the plank."
+
+Patricia's strength was equal to her courage, and under the excitement
+of that desperate moment she did what few other girls of her size
+could ever have accomplished. She drew the boy up until his eager
+hands caught the edges of the plank, and gripped it firmly. Then she
+released him and crept a little back toward the roof.
+
+"Now swing your legs up and you're safe!" she cried.
+
+He tried to obey, but his strength was failing him, and he could do no
+more than touch the plank with his toes.
+
+"Once more," called the girl.
+
+This time she caught his feet as they swung upward, and drew his legs
+around the plank.
+
+"Can you climb up, now?" she asked, anxiously.
+
+"I'll try," he panted.
+
+The plank upon which this little tragedy was being enacted was in full
+view of the small garden where Aunt Jane loved to sit in her chair and
+enjoy the flowers and the sunshine. She could not see Kenneth's wing
+at all, but she could see the elevated plank leading from the roof to
+the oak tree, and for several days had been puzzled by its appearance
+and wondered for what purpose it was there.
+
+Today, as she sat talking with John Merrick and Silas Watson, she
+suddenly gave a cry of surprise, and following her eyes the two men
+saw Kenneth step out upon the roof, fall, and slide over the edge.
+For a moment all three remained motionless, seized with fear and
+consternation, and then they saw Patsy appear and run down to the
+plank.
+
+This they watched her move, and saw her lie down upon it.
+
+"She's trying to save him--he must be caught somewhere!" cried the
+lawyer, and both men started at full speed to reach the spot by the
+round-about paths through the garden.
+
+Aunt Jane sat still and watched. Suddenly the form of the boy swung
+into view beneath the plank, dangling from the girl's outstretched
+arms. The woman caught her breath, wondering what would happen next.
+Patricia drew him up, until he seized the plank with his hands. Then
+the girl crept back a little, and as the boy swung his feet upward she
+caught them and twined his legs over the plank.
+
+And now came the supreme struggle. The girl could do little more to
+help him. He must manage to clamber upon the top of the plank himself.
+
+Ordinarily Kenneth might have done this easily; but now his nerves
+were all unstrung, and he was half exhausted by the strain of the past
+few minutes. Almost he did it; but not quite. The next effort would be
+even weaker. But now Patricia walked out upon the plank and Aunt Jane
+saw her lean down, grasp the boy's collar and drag him into a position
+of safety.
+
+"Bravely done!" she murmured, but even as the sound came from her lips
+the girl upon the bridge seemed in the exertion of the struggle to
+lose her balance. She threw out her arms, leaned sidewise, and then
+fell headlong into the chasm and disappeared from view.
+
+Aunt Jane's agonized scream brought Phibbs running to her side. At
+a glance she saw that her mistress had fainted, and looking hastily
+around to discover the cause she observed the boy crawl slowly across
+the plank, reach the tree, and slide down its trunk to pass out of
+view behind the high hedge.
+
+"Drat the boy!" growled the old servant, angrily, "he'll be the death
+of Miss Jane, yet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+GOOD RESULTS.
+
+
+Uncle John could not run so swiftly as the lawyer, but he broke
+through a gap in the hedge and arrived at a point just beneath the
+plank at the same time that Silas Watson did.
+
+One glance showed them the boy safely perched on top of the plank,
+but the girl was bending backward. She threw out her arms in a vain
+endeavor to save herself, and with a low cry toppled and plunged
+swiftly toward the ground.
+
+There was little time for the men to consider their actions.
+Involuntarily they tried to catch Patricia, whose body struck them
+sharply, felling them to the ground, and then bounded against the
+hedge and back to the pavement.
+
+When, half dazed, they scrambled to their feet, the girl lay
+motionless before them, a stream of red blood welling from a deep cut
+in her forhead, her eyes closed as if in sleep.
+
+A moment more and the boy was kneeling beside her, striving to stay
+the bleeding with his handkerchief.
+
+"Do something! For God's sake try to do something," he wailed,
+piteously. "Can't you see she's killed herself to save me?"
+
+Uncle John knelt down and took the still form in his arms.
+
+"Quiet, my lad," he said. "She isn't dead. Get Nora, and fetch the
+doctor as soon as you can."
+
+The boy was gone instantly, his agony relieved by the chance of
+action, and followed by the lawyer, Uncle John carried his niece to
+the rose chamber and laid her upon her white bed.
+
+Misery met them, then, and following her came Louise and Beth, full of
+horror and pity for the victim of the dreadful accident.
+
+Jane Merrick had promptly recovered consciousness, for fainting spells
+were foreign to her nature. Her first words to Phibbs, who was bending
+over her, were:
+
+"Is she dead?"
+
+"Who, Miss Jane?"
+
+"Patricia."
+
+"I don't know, Miss Jane. Why should she be dead?"
+
+"Run, you idiot! Run at once and find out. Ask my brother--ask
+anyone--if Patricia is dead!"
+
+And so Phibbs came to the rose chamber and found the little group
+bending over the girl's unconscious form.
+
+"Is she dead, sir? Miss Jane wants to know," said the old servant, in
+awe-struck tones.
+
+"No," answered Uncle John, gravely. "She isn't dead, I'm sure; but I
+can't tell how badly she is hurt. One of her legs--the right one--is
+broken, I know, for I felt it as I carried the child in my arms; but
+we must wait until the doctor comes before I can tell more."
+
+Misery was something of a nurse, it seemed, and with the assistance of
+Louise, who proved most helpful in the emergency, she bathed the
+wound in the girl's forehead and bandaged it as well as she was able.
+Between them the women also removed Patricia's clothing and got her
+into bed, where she lay white and still unconscious, but breathing so
+softly that they knew she was yet alive.
+
+The doctor was not long in arriving, for Kenneth forced him to leap
+upon Nora's back and race away to Elmhurst, while the boy followed as
+swiftly as he could on the doctor's sober cob.
+
+Dr. Eliel was only a country practitioner, but his varied experiences
+through many years had given him a practical knowledge of surgery,
+and after a careful examination of Patricia's injuries he was able to
+declare that she would make a fine recovery.
+
+"Her leg is fractured, and she's badly bruised," he reported to Aunt
+Jane, who sent for him as soon as he could leave the sick room. "But I
+do not think she has suffered any internal injuries, and the wound on
+her forehead is a mere nothing. So, with good care, I expect the young
+lady to get along nicely."
+
+"Do everything you can for her," said the woman, earnestly. "You shall
+be well paid, Dr. Eliel."
+
+Before Patricia recovered her senses the doctor had sewn up her
+forehead and set the fractured limb, so that she suffered little pain
+from the first.
+
+Louise and Beth hovered over her constantly, ministering to every
+possible want and filled with tenderest sympathy for their injured
+cousin. The accident seemed to draw them out of their selfishness and
+petty intrigues and discovered in them the true womanly qualities that
+had lurked beneath the surface.
+
+Patsy was not allowed to talk, but she smiled gratefully at her
+cousins, and the three girls seemed suddenly drawn nearer together
+than any of them would have thought possible a few hours before.
+
+The boy paced constantly up and down outside Patricia's door, begging
+everyone who left the room, for news of the girl's condition. All his
+reserve and fear of women seemed to have melted away as if by magic.
+Even Beth and Louise were questioned eagerly, and they, having learned
+the story of Patricia's brave rescue of the boy, were very gentle with
+him and took pains not to frighten or offend him.
+
+Toward evening Louise asked Patricia if she would see Kenneth for a
+moment, and the girl nodded a ready assent.
+
+He came in awkward and trembling, glancing fearfully at the bandaged
+forehead and the still white face. But Patricia managed to smile
+reassuringly, and held out a little hand for him to take. The boy
+grasped it in both his own, and held it for several minutes while he
+stood motionless beside her, his wide eyes fixed intently upon her
+own.
+
+Then Louise sent him away, and he went to his room and wept profusely,
+and then quieted down into a sort of dull stupor.
+
+The next morning Uncle John dragged him away from Patricia's door and
+forced him to play chess. The boy lost every game, being inattentive
+and absorbed in thought, until finally Uncle John gave up the attempt
+to amuse him and settled himself on the top stair for a quiet smoke.
+The boy turned to the table, and took a sheet of paper from the
+drawer. For an hour, perhaps, neither of these curious friends spoke
+a word, but at the end of that time Uncle John arose and knocked the
+ashes from his pipe. Kenneth did not notice him. The man approached
+the table and looked over the boy's shoulder, uttering an exclamation
+of surprise. Upon the paper appeared a cleverly drawn pencil sketch
+of Patricia lying in her bed, a faint smile upon her face and her big
+blue eyes turned pleasantly upon a shadowy form that stood beside her
+holding her hand. The likeness was admirable, and if there were faults
+in the perspective and composition Uncle John did not recognize them.
+
+He gave a low whistle and turned thoughtfully away, and the young
+artist was so absorbed that he did not even look up.
+
+Strolling away to the stables, Uncle John met old Donald, who
+enquired:
+
+"How is Miss Patsy this morning, sir?" It was the name she had given,
+and preferred to be called by.
+
+"She's doing finely," said Uncle John.
+
+"A brave girl, sir!"
+
+"Yes, Donald."
+
+"And the boy?"
+
+"Why, he seems changed, in some way, Donald. Not so nervous and wild
+as usual, you know. I've just left him drawing a picture. Curious. A
+good picture, too."
+
+"Ah, he can do that, sir, as well as a real artist."
+
+"Have you known him to draw, before this?"
+
+"Why, he's always at it, sir, in his quieter moods. I've got a rare
+good likeness o' myself, as he did long ago, in the harness-room."
+
+"May I see it?"
+
+"With pleasure, sir."
+
+Donald led the way to the harness-room, and took from the cupboard the
+precious board he had so carefully preserved.
+
+Uncle John glanced at it and laughed aloud. He could well appreciate
+the humor of the sketch, which Donald never had understood, and the
+caricature was as clever as it was amusing. He handed the treasure
+back to Donald and went away even more thoughtful than before.
+
+A few days later a large package arrived at Elmhurst addressed to
+Kenneth Forbes, and Oscar carried it at once to the boy's room, who
+sat for an hour looking at it in silent amazement. Then he carefully
+unwrapped it, and found it to contain a portable easel, a quantity of
+canvas and drawing-paper, paints and oils of every description
+(mostly all unknown to him) and pencils, brushes and water colors in
+profusion.
+
+Kenneth's heart bounded with joy. Here was wealth, indeed, greater
+than he had ever hoped for. He puzzled his brain for weeks to discover
+how this fairy gift had ever come to him, but he was happier in its
+possession than he had ever been before in all his life.
+
+Patricia improved rapidly. Had it not been for the broken leg she
+would have been out of the house in a week, as good as ever; but
+broken limbs take time to heal, and Dr. Eliel would not permit the
+girl to leave her bed until ten days had passed.
+
+Meantime everyone delighted to attend her. Louise and Beth sat with
+her for hours, reading or working, for the rose chamber was cheery and
+pleasant, and its big windows opened upon the prettiest part of the
+gardens. The two girls were even yet suspicious of one another, each
+striving to win an advantage with Aunt Jane; but neither had the
+slightest fear that Patricia would ever interfere with their plans. So
+they allowed their natural inclinations to pet and admire the heroine
+of the hour full sway, and Patsy responded so sweetly and frankly to
+their advances that they came to love her dearly, and wondered why
+they had not discovered from the first how lovable their Irish cousin
+could be.
+
+Kenneth, also came daily to the sick room for a visit, and Patsy had
+a way of drawing the boy out and making him talk that was really
+irresistible. After his fairy gift arrived he could not help telling
+the girls all about it and then he brought the things down and
+displayed them, and promised Patsy he would make a picture of the
+garden for her.
+
+Then, after the girl got better, he brought his easel down to her
+room, where she could watch him work, and began upon the picture,
+while the cousins joined him in speculations as to who the mysterious
+donor could he.
+
+"At first," said Kenneth, "I thought it was Mr. Watson, for he's alway
+been very good to me; but he says he knows nothing about it. Then I
+though it might be Uncle John; but Uncle John is too poor to afford
+such an expensive present."
+
+"I don't believe he has a penny in the world," said Louise, who sat by
+with some needle-work.
+
+"All he owns," remarked Beth, with a laugh, "is an extra necktie,
+slightly damaged."
+
+"But he's a dear old man," said Patsy, loyally, "and I'm sure he would
+have given all those things to Kenneth had he been able."
+
+"Then who was it?" asked the boy.
+
+"Why, Aunt Jane, to be sure," declared Patsy.
+
+The boy scowled, and shook his head.
+
+"She wouldn't do anything to please me, even to save her life," he
+growled. "She hates me, I know that well enough."
+
+"Oh, no; I'm sure she doesn't," said Patsy. "Aunt Jane has a heap
+of good in her; but you've got to dig for it, like you do for gold.
+'Twould be just like her to make you this present and keep it a
+secret."
+
+"If she really did it," replied the boy, slowly, "and it seems as if
+she is the only one. I know who could afford such a gift, it stands to
+reason that either Uncle John or Mr. Watson asked her to, and she did
+it to please them. I've lived here for years, and she has never spoken
+a kindly word to me or done me a kindly act. It isn't likely she'd
+begin now, is it?"
+
+Unable to make a reassuring reply, Patsy remained silent, and the boy
+went on with his work. He first outlined the picture in pencil, and
+then filled it in with water color. They all expressed admiration for
+the drawing; but the color effect was so horrible that even Patsy
+found no words to praise it, and the boy in a fit of sudden anger tore
+the thing to shreds and so destroyed it.
+
+"But I must have my picture, anyhow," said the girl. "Make it in pen
+and ink or pencil, Ken. and I'm sure it will be beautiful."
+
+"You need instruction, to do water color properly," suggested Louise.
+
+"Then I can never do it," he replied, bitterly. But he adopted Patsy's
+suggestion and sketched the garden very prettily in pen and ink.
+By the time the second picture was completed Patsy had received
+permission to leave her room, which she did in Aunt Jane's second-best
+wheel chair.
+
+Her first trip was to Aunt Jane's own private garden, where the
+invalid, who had not seen her niece since the accident, had asked her
+to come.
+
+Patsy wanted Kenneth to wheel her, but the boy, with a touch of his
+old surly demeanor, promptly refused to meet Jane Merrick face to
+face. So Beth wheeled the chair and Louise walked by Patsy's side, and
+soon the three nieces reached their aunt's retreat.
+
+Aunt Jane was not in an especially amiable mood.
+
+"Well, girl, how do you like being a fool?" she demanded, as Patsy's
+chair came to a stand just opposite her own.
+
+"It feels so natural that I don't mind it," replied Patsy, laughing.
+
+"You might have killed yourself, and all for nothing," continued the
+old woman, querulously.
+
+Patsy looked at her pityingly. Her aunt's face had aged greatly in the
+two weeks, and the thin gray hair seemed now almost white.
+
+"Are you feeling better, dear?" asked the girl.
+
+"I shall never be better," said Jane Merrick, sternly. "The end is not
+far off now."
+
+"Oh, I'm sorry to hear you say that!" said Patsy; "but I hope it is
+not true. Why, here are we four newly found relations all beginning to
+get acquainted, and to love one another, and we can't have our little
+party broken up, auntie dear."
+
+"Five of us--five relations," cried Uncle John, coming around the
+corner of the hedge. "Don't I count, Patsy, you rogue? Why you're
+looking as bright and as bonny as can be. I wouldn't be surprised if
+you could toddle."
+
+"Not yet," she answered, cheerfully. "But I'm doing finely, Uncle
+John, and it won't be long before I can get about as well as ever."
+
+"And to think," said Aunt Jane, bitterly, "that all this trouble was
+caused by that miserable boy! If I knew where to send him he'd not
+stay at Elmhurst a day longer."
+
+"Why, he's my best friend, aunt," announced Patsy, quietly. "I don't
+think I could be happy at Elmhurst without Kenneth."
+
+"He has quite reformed," said Louise, "and seems like a very nice
+boy."
+
+"He's a little queer, yet, at times," added Beth, "but not a bit rude,
+as he used to be."
+
+Aunt Jane looked from one to the other in amazement. No one had
+spoken so kindly of the boy before in years. And Uncle John, with a
+thoughtful look on his face, said slowly:
+
+"The fact is, Jane, you've never given the boy a chance. On the
+contrary, you nearly ruined him by making a hermit of him and giving
+him no schooling to speak of and no society except that of servants.
+He was as wild as a hawk when I first came, but these girls are just
+the sort of companions he needs, to soften him and make him a man.
+I've no doubt he'll come out all right, in the end."
+
+"Perhaps you'd like to adopt him yourself, John," sneered the woman,
+furious at this praise of the one person she so greatly disliked.
+
+Her brother drew his hands from his pockets, looked around in a
+helpless and embarrassed way, and then tried fumblingly to fill his
+pipe.
+
+"I ain't in the adopting business, Jane," he answered meekly. "And if
+I was," with a quaint smile, "I'd adopt one or two of these nieces o'
+mine, instead of Tom Bradley's nephew. If Bradley hadn't seen you,
+Jane, and loved your pretty face when you were young, Kenneth Forbes
+would now be the owner of Elmhurst. Did you ever think of that?"
+
+Did she ever think of it? Why, it was this very fact that made the boy
+odious to her. The woman grew white with rage.
+
+"John Merrick, leave my presence."
+
+"All right, Jane."
+
+He stopped to light his pipe, and then slowly walked away, leaving an
+embarrassed group behind him.
+
+Patsy, however, was equal to the occasion. She began at once to
+chatter about Dr. Eliel, and the scar that would always show on her
+forehead; and how surprised the Major, her father, would be when he
+returned from the visit to his colonel and found his daughter had been
+through the wars herself, and bore the evidence of honorable wounds.
+Louise gracefully assisted her cousin to draw Aunt Jane into a more
+genial mood, and between them they presently succeeded. The interview
+that had begun so unfortunately ended quite pleasantly, and when
+Patricia returned to her room her aunt bade her adieu almost tenderly.
+
+"In fact," said Louise to Beth, in the privacy of the latter's
+chamber, "I'm getting rather worried over Aunt Jane's evident weakness
+for our Cousin Patsy. Once or twice today I caught a look in her eye
+when she looked at Patsy that she has never given either you or me.
+The Irish girl may get the money yet."
+
+"Nonsense," said Beth. "She has said she wouldn't accept a penny of
+it, and I'm positive she'll keep her word."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+AUNT JANE'S HEIRESS.
+
+
+"Silas," said Aunt Jane to her lawyer, the next morning after her
+interview with Patsy, "I'm ready to have you draw up my will."
+
+Mr. Watson gave a start of astonishment. In his own mind he had
+arrived at the conclusion that the will would never be executed, and
+to have Miss Merrick thus suddenly declare her decision was enough to
+startle even the lawyer's natural reserve.
+
+"Very well, Jane," he said, briefly.
+
+They were alone in the invalid's morning room, Phibbs having been
+asked to retire.
+
+"There is no use disguising the fact, Silas, that I grow weaker every
+day, and the numbness is creeping nearer and nearer to my heart," said
+Miss Merrick, in her usual even tones. "It is folly for me to trifle
+with these few days of grace yet allowed me, and I have fully made up
+my mind as to the disposition of my property."
+
+"Yes?" he said, enquiringly, and drew from his pocket a pencil and
+paper.
+
+"I shall leave to my niece Louise five thousand dollars."
+
+"Yes, Jane," jotting down the memorandum.
+
+"And to Elizabeth a like sum."
+
+The lawyer seemed disappointed. He tapped the pencil against his
+teeth, musingly, for a moment, and then wrote down the amount.
+
+"Also to my brother, John Merrick, the sum of five thousand dollars,"
+she resumed.
+
+"To your brother?"
+
+"Yes. That should be enough to take care of him as long as he lives.
+He seems quite simple in his tastes, and he is an old man."
+
+The lawyer wrote it down.
+
+"All my other remaining property, both real and personal, I shall
+leave to my niece, Patricia Doyle."
+
+"Jane!"
+
+"Did you hear me?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then do as I bid you, Silas Watson."
+
+He leaned back in his chair and looked at her thoughtfully.
+
+"I am not only your lawyer, Jane; I am also your friend and
+counsellor. Do you realize what this bequest means?" he asked, gently.
+
+"It means that Patricia will inherit Elmhurst--and a fortune besides.
+Why not, Silas? I liked the child from the first. She's frank and open
+and brave, and will do credit to my judgment."
+
+"She is very young and unsophisticated," said the lawyer, "and of all
+your nieces she will least appreciate your generosity."
+
+"You are to be my executor, and manage the estate until the girl comes
+of age. You will see that she is properly educated and fitted for her
+station in life. As for appreciation, or gratitude, I don't care a
+snap of my finger for such fol-de-rol."
+
+The lawyer sighed.
+
+"But the boy, Jane? You seem to have forgotten him," he said.
+
+"Drat the boy! I've done enough for him already."
+
+"Wouldn't Tom like you to provide for Kenneth in some way, however
+humbly?"
+
+She glared at him angrily.
+
+"How do you know what Tom would like, after all these years?" she
+asked, sternly. "And how should I know, either? The money is mine, and
+the boy is nothing to me. Let him shift for himself."
+
+"There is a great deal of money, Jane," declared the lawyer,
+impressively. "We have been fortunate in our investments, and you have
+used but little of your ample income. To spare fifty thousand dollars
+to Kenneth, who is Tom's sole remaining relative, would be no hardship
+to Patricia. Indeed, she would scarcely miss it."
+
+"You remind me of something, Silas," she said, looking at him with
+friendly eyes. "Make a memorandum of twenty thousand dollars to Silas
+Watson. You have been very faithful to my interests and have helped
+materially to increase my fortune."
+
+"Thank you, Jane."
+
+He wrote down the amount as calmly as he had done the others.
+
+"And the boy?" he asked, persistently.
+
+Aunt Jane sighed wearily, and leaned against her pillows.
+
+"Give the boy two thousand," she said.
+
+"Make it ten, Jane."
+
+"I'll make it five, and not a penny more," she rejoined. "Now leave
+me, and prepare the paper at once. I want to sign it today, if
+possible."
+
+He bowed gravely, and left the room.
+
+Toward evening the lawyer came again, bringing with him a notary from
+the village. Dr. Eliel, who had come to visit Patricia, was also
+called into Jane Merrick's room, and after she had carefully read the
+paper in their presence the mistress of Elmhurst affixed her signature
+to the document which transferred the great estate to the little Irish
+girl, and the notary and the doctor solemnly witnessed it and retired.
+
+"Now, Silas," said the old woman, with a sigh of intense relief, "I
+can die in peace."
+
+Singularly enough, the signing of the will seemed not to be the end
+for Jane Merrick, but the beginning of an era of unusual comfort. On
+the following morning she awakened brighter than usual, having passed
+a good night, freed from the worries and anxieties that had beset her
+for weeks. She felt more like her old self than at any time since the
+paralysis had overtaken her, and passed the morning most enjoyably
+in her sunshiney garden. Here Patricia was also brought in her wheel
+chair by Beth, who then left the two invalids together.
+
+They conversed genially enough, for a time, until an unfortunate
+remark of Aunt Jane's which seemed to asperse her father's character
+aroused Patricia's ire. Then she loosened her tongue, and in her
+voluable Irish way berated her aunt until poor Phibbs stood aghast at
+such temerity, and even Mr. Watson, who arrived to enquire after his
+client and friend, was filled with amazement.
+
+He cast a significant look at Miss Merrick, who answered it in her
+usual emphatic way.
+
+"Patricia is quite right, Silas," she declared, "and I deserve all
+that she has said. If the girl were fond enough of me to defend me as
+heartily as she does her father, I would be very proud, indeed."
+
+Patricia cooled at once, and regarded her aunt with a sunny smile.
+
+"Forgive me!" she begged. "I know you did not mean it, and I was wrong
+to talk to you in such a way."
+
+So harmony was restored, and Mr. Watson wondered more and more at
+this strange perversion of the old woman's character. Heretofore any
+opposition had aroused in her intense rage and a fierce antagonism,
+but now she seemed delighted to have Patsy fly at her, and excused the
+girl's temper instead of resenting it.
+
+But Patsy was a little ashamed of herself this morning, realizing
+perhaps that Aunt Jane had been trying to vex her, just to enjoy her
+indignant speeches; and she also realized the fact that her aunt was
+old and suffering, and not wholly responsible for her aggravating and
+somewhat malicious observations. So she firmly resolved not to be so
+readily entrapped again, and was so bright and cheery during the next
+hour that Aunt Jane smiled more than once, and at one time actually
+laughed at her niece's witty repartee.
+
+After that it became the daily program for Patsy to spend her mornings
+in Aunt Jane's little garden, and although they sometimes clashed,
+and, as Phibbs told Beth, "had dreadful fights," they both enjoyed
+these hours very much.
+
+The two girls became rather uneasy during the days their cousin spent
+in the society of Aunt Jane. Even the dreadful accounts they received
+from Phibbs failed wholly to reassure them, and Louise redoubled her
+solicitious attentions to her aunt in order to offset the influence
+Patricia seemed to be gaining over her.
+
+Louise had also become, by this time, the managing housekeeper of
+the establishment, and it was certain that Aunt Jane looked upon her
+eldest and most competent niece with much favor.
+
+Beth, with all her friends to sing her praises, seemed to make less
+headway with her aunt than either of the others, and gradually she
+sank into a state of real despondency.
+
+"I've done the best I could," she wrote her mother, "but I'm not as
+clever as Louise nor as amusing as Patricia; so Aunt Jane pays little
+attention to me. She's a dreadful old woman, and I can't bring myself
+to appear to like her. That probably accounts for my failure; but I
+may as well stay on here until something happens."
+
+In a fortnight more Patricia abandoned her chair and took to crutches,
+on which she hobbled everywhere as actively as the others walked. She
+affected her cousins' society more, from this time, and Aunt Jane's
+society less, for she had come to be fond of the two girls who had
+nursed her so tenderly, and it was natural that a young girl would
+prefer to be with those of her own age rather than a crabbed old woman
+like Aunt Jane.
+
+Kenneth also now became Patsy's faithful companion, for the boy had
+lost his former bashfulness and fear of girls, and had grown to feel
+at ease even in the society of Beth and Louise. The four had many
+excursions and picnics into the country together; but Kenneth and
+Patsy were recognized as especial chums, and the other girls did not
+interfere in their friendship except to tease them, occasionally, in a
+good natured way.
+
+The boy's old acquaintances could hardly recognize him as the same
+person they had known before Patricia's adventure on the plank. His
+fits of gloomy abstraction and violent bursts of temper had alike
+vanished, or only prevailed at brief intervals. Nor was he longer rude
+and unmannerly to those with whom he came in contact. Awkward he still
+was, and lacking in many graces that education and good society can
+alone confer; but he was trying hard to be, as he confided to old
+Uncle John, "like other people," and succeeded in adapting himself
+very well to his new circumstances.
+
+Although he had no teacher, as yet, he had begun to understand color
+a little, and succeeded in finishing one or two water-color sketches
+which Patsy, who knew nothing at all of such things, pronounced
+"wonderfully fine." Of course the boy blushed with pleasure and was
+encouraged to still greater effort.
+
+The girl was also responsible for Kenneth's sudden advancement in the
+household at Elmhurst.
+
+One day she said calmly to Aunt Jane:
+
+"I've invited Kenneth to dinner this evening."
+
+The woman flew angry in an instant.
+
+"Who gave you such authority?" she demanded.
+
+"No one. I just took it," said Patsy, saucily.
+
+"He shall not come," declared Aunt Jane, sternly. "I'll have no
+interference from you, Miss, with my household arrangements. Phibbs,
+call Louise!"
+
+Patsy's brow grew dark. Presently Louise appeared.
+
+"Instruct the servants to forbid that boy to enter my dining room this
+evening," she said to Louise.
+
+"Also, Louise," said Patsy, "tell them not to lay a plate for me, and
+ask Oscar to be ready with the wagon at five o'clock. I'm going home."
+
+Louise hesitated, and looked from Miss Jane to Patsy, and back again.
+They were glaring upon each other like two gorgons.
+
+Then she burst into laughter; she could not help it, the sight was too
+ridiculous. A moment later Patsy was laughing, too, and then Aunt Jane
+allowed a grim smile to cross her features.
+
+"Never mind, Louise," she said, with remarkable cheerfulness; "We'll
+compromise matters."
+
+"How?" asked Patsy.
+
+"By putting a plate for Kenneth," said her aunt, cooly. "I imagine I
+can stand his society for one evening."
+
+So the matter was arranged to Patricia's satisfaction, and the boy
+came to dinner, trembling and unhappy at first, but soon placed at
+ease by the encouragements of the three girls. Indeed, he behaved so
+well, in the main, and was so gentle and unobstrusive, that Aunt Jane
+looked at him with surprise, and favored him with one or two speeches
+which he answered modestly and well.
+
+Patsy was radiant with delight, and the next day Aunt Jane remarked
+casually that she did not object to the boy's presence at dinner, at
+all, and he could come whenever he liked.
+
+This arrangement gave great pleasure to both Uncle John and Mr.
+Watson, the latter of whom was often present at the "state dinner,"
+and both men congratulated Patsy upon the distinct victory she had
+won. No more was said about her leaving Elmhurst. The Major wrote that
+he was having a splendid time with the colonel, and begged for an
+extension of his vacation, to which Patsy readily agreed, she being
+still unable on account of her limb to return to her work at Madam
+Borne's.
+
+And so the days glided pleasantly by, and August came to find a happy
+company of young folks at old Elmhurst, with Aunt Jane wonderfully
+improved in health and Uncle John beaming complacently upon everyone
+he chanced to meet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PATRICIA SPEAKS FRANKLY.
+
+
+It was Lawyer Watson's suggestion that she was being unjust to Beth
+and Louise, in encouraging them to hope they might inherit Elmhurst,
+that finally decided Aunt Jane to end all misunderstandings and inform
+her nieces of the fact that she had made a final disposition of her
+property.
+
+So one morning she sent word asking them all into her room, and when
+the nieces appeared they found Uncle John and the lawyer already
+in their aunt's presence. There was an air of impressive formality
+pervading the room, although Miss Merrick's brother, at least, was as
+ignorant as her nieces of the reason why they had been summoned.
+
+Patsy came in last, hobbling actively on her crutches, although the
+leg was now nearly recovered, and seated herself somewhat in the rear
+of the apartment.
+
+Aunt Jane looked into one expectant face after another with curious
+interest, and then broke the silence by saying, gravely, but in more
+gentle tones than she was accustomed to use:
+
+"I believe, young ladies, that you have understood from the first my
+strongest reason for inviting you to visit Elmhurst this summer. I
+am old, and must soon pass away, and instead of leaving you and
+your parents, who would be my legitimate heirs, to squabble over my
+property when I am gone, I decided to excute a will bequeathing my
+estate to some one who would take proper care of it and maintain it in
+a creditable manner. I had no personal acquaintance with any of you,
+but judged that one out of the three might serve my purpose, and
+therefore invited you all here."
+
+By this time the hearts of Louise and Beth were fluttering with
+excitement, and even Patsy looked interested. Uncle John sat a little
+apart, watching them with an amused smile upon his face, and the
+lawyer sat silent with his eyes fixed upon a pattern in the rug.
+
+"In arriving at a decision, which I may say I have succeeded in
+doing," continued Aunt Jane, calmly, "I do not claim to have acted
+with either wisdom or discernment. I have simply followed my own whim,
+as I have the right to do, and selected the niece I prefer to become
+my heiress. You cannot accuse of injustice, because none of you had a
+right to expect anything of me; but I will say this, that I am well
+pleased with all three of you, and now wish that I had taken pains to
+form your acquaintance earlier in life. You might have cheered my old
+age and rendered it less lonely and dull."
+
+"Well said, Jane," remarked Uncle John, nodding his head approvingly.
+
+She did not notice the interruption, but presently continued:
+
+"Some days ago I asked my lawyer, Mr. Watson, to draw up my will. It
+was at once prepared and signed, and now stands as my last will and
+testament. I have given to you, Louise, the sum of five thousand
+dollars."
+
+Louise laughed nervously, and threw out her hands with an indifferent
+gesture.
+
+"Many thanks, Aunt," she said, lightly.
+
+"To you, Beth," continued Miss Merrick, "I have given the same sum."
+
+Beth's heart sank, and tears forced themselves into her eyes in spite
+of her efforts to restrain them. She said nothing.
+
+Aunt Jane turned to her brother.
+
+"I have also provided for you, John, in the sum of five thousand
+dollars."
+
+"Me!" he exclaimed, astounded. "Why, suguration, Jane, I don't--"
+
+"Silence!" she cried, sternly. "I expect neither thanks nor protests.
+If you take care of the money, John, it will last you as long as you
+live."
+
+Uncle John laughed. He doubled up in his chair and rocked back and
+forth, shaking his little round body as if he had met with the most
+amusing thing that had ever happened in his life. Aunt Jane stared
+at him, while Louise and Beth looked their astonishment, but Patsy's
+clear laughter rang above Uncle John's gasping chuckles.
+
+"I hope, dear Uncle," said she, mischievously, "that when poor Aunt
+Jane is gone you'll be able to buy a new necktie."
+
+He looked at her whimsically, and wiped the tears from his eyes.
+
+"Thank you, Jane," said the little man to his sister. "It's a lot of
+money, and I'll be proud to own it."
+
+"Why did you laugh." demanded Aunt Jane.
+
+"I just happened to think that our old Dad once said I'd never be
+worth a dollar in all my life. What would he say now, Jane, if he knew
+I stood good to have five thousand--if I can manage to outlive you?"
+
+She turned from him with an expression of scorn.
+
+"In addition to these bequests," said she, "I have left five thousand
+to the boy and twenty thousand to Mr. Watson. The remainder of the
+property will go to Patricia."
+
+For a moment the room was intensely still. Then Patricia said, with
+quiet determination:
+
+"You may as well make another will, Aunt. I'll not touch a penny of
+your money."
+
+"Why not?" asked the woman, almost fiercely.
+
+"You have been kind to me, and you mean well," said Patricia. "I would
+rather not tell you my reasons."
+
+"I demand to know them!"
+
+"Ah, aunt; can't you understand, without my speaking?"
+
+"No," said the other; but a flush crossed her pale cheek,
+nevertheless.
+
+Patsy arose and stumped to a position directly in front of Jane
+Merrick, where she rested on her crutches. Her eyes were bright and
+full of indignation, and her plain little face was so white that every
+freckle showed distinctly.
+
+"There was a time, years ago," she began in a low voice, "when you
+were very rich and your sister Violet, my mother, was very poor. Her
+health was bad, and she had me to care for, while my father was very
+ill with a fever. She was proud, too, and for herself she would never
+have begged a penny of anyone; but for my sake she asked her rich
+sister to loan her a little money to tide her over her period of want.
+What did you do, Jane Merrick, you who lived in a beautiful mansion,
+and had more money than you could use? You insulted her, telling her
+she belonged to a family of beggars, and that none of them could
+wheedle your money away from you!"
+
+"It was true," retorted the elder woman, stubbornly. "They were after
+me like a drove of wolves--every Merrick of them all--and they would
+have ruined me if I had let them bleed me as they wished."
+
+"So far as my mother is concerned, that's a lie," said Patsy, quietly.
+"She never appealed to you but that once, but worked as bravely as she
+could to earn money in her own poor way. The result was that she died,
+and I was left to the care of strangers until my father was well
+enough to support me."
+
+She paused, and again the room seemed unnaturally still.
+
+"I'm sorry, girl," said Aunt Jane, at last, in trembling tones. "I was
+wrong. I see it now, and I am sorry I refused Violet."
+
+"Then I forgive you!" said Patsy, impulsively. "I forgive you all,
+Aunt Jane; for through your own selfishness you cut yourself off from
+all your family--from all who might have loved you--and you have lived
+all these years a solitary and loveless life. There'll be no grudge
+of mine to follow you to the grave, Aunt Jane. But," her voice
+hardening, "I'll never touch a penny of the money that was denied my
+poor dead mother. Thank God the old Dad and I are independent, and can
+earn our own living."
+
+Uncle John came to where Patsy stood and put both arms around her,
+pressing her--crutches and all--close to his breast. Then he released
+her, and without a word stalked from the room.
+
+"Leave me, now," said Aunt Jane, in a husky voice. "I want time to
+think."
+
+Patricia hobbled forward, placed one hand caressingly upon the gray
+head, and then bent and kissed Aunt Jane's withered cheek.
+
+"That's right," she whispered. "Think it over, dear. It's all past
+and done, now, and I'm sorry I had to hurt you. But--not a penny,
+aunt--remember, not a penny will I take!"
+
+Then she left the room, followed by Louise and Beth, both of whom were
+glad to be alone that they might conquer their bitter disappointment.
+
+Louise, however, managed to accept the matter philosophically, as the
+following extract from her letter to her mother will prove:
+
+"After all, it isn't so bad as it might be, mater, dear," she wrote.
+"I'll get five thousand, at the very worst, and that will help us on
+our way considerably. But I am quite sure that Patsy means just what
+she says, and that she will yet induce Aunt Jane to alter her will. In
+that case I believe the estate will either be divided between Beth and
+me, or I will get it all. Anyway, I shall stay here and play my best
+cards until the game is finished."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+DUPLICITY.
+
+
+Aunt Jane had a bad night, as might have been expected after her
+trials of the previous day.
+
+She sent for Patricia early in the forenoon, and when the girl arrived
+she was almost shocked by the change in her aunt's appearance. The
+invalid's face seemed drawn and gray, and she lay upon her cushions
+breathing heavily and without any appearance of vitality or strength.
+Even the sharpness and piercing quality of her hard gray eyes was
+lacking and the glance she cast at her niece was rather pleading than
+defiant.
+
+"I want you to reconsider your decision of yesterday, Patricia," she
+begun.
+
+"Don't ask me to do that, aunt," replied the girl, firmly. "My mind is
+fully made up."
+
+"I have made mistakes, I know," continued the woman feebly; "but I
+want to do the right thing, at last."
+
+"Then I will show you how," said Patricia, quickly. "You mustn't think
+me impertinent, aunt, for I don't mean to be so at all. But tell me;
+why did you wish to leave me your money?"
+
+"Because your nature is quite like my own, child, and I admire your
+independence and spirit."
+
+"But my cousins are much more deserving," said she, thoughtfully.
+"Louise is very sweet and amiable, and loves you more than I do, while
+Beth is the most sensible and practical girl I have ever known."
+
+"It may be so," returned Aunt Jane, impatiently; "but I have left each
+a legacy, Patricia, and you alone are my choice for the mistress of
+Elmhurst. I told you yesterday I should not try to be just. I mean to
+leave my property according to my personal desire, and no one shall
+hinder me." This last with a spark of her old vigor.
+
+"But that is quite wrong, aunt, and if you desire me to inherit your
+wealth you will be disappointed. A moment ago you said you wished to
+do the right thing, at last. Don't you know what that is?"
+
+"Perhaps you will tell me," said Aunt Jane, curiously.
+
+"With pleasure," returned Patsy. "Mr. Bradley left you this property
+because he loved you, and love blinded him to all sense of justice.
+Such an estate should not have passed into the hands of aliens because
+of a lover's whim. He should have considered his own flesh and blood."
+
+"There was no one but his sister, who at that time was not married and
+had no son," explained Aunt Jane, calmly. "But he did not forget her
+and asked me to look after Katherine Bradley in case she or her heirs
+ever needed help. I have done so. When his mother died, I had the boy
+brought here, and he has lived here ever since."
+
+"But the property ought to be his," said Patricia, earnestly. "It
+would please me beyond measure to have you make your will in his
+favor, and you would be doing the right thing at last."
+
+"I won't," said Aunt Jane, angrily.
+
+"It would also be considerate and just to the memory of Mr. Bradley,"
+continued the girl. "What's going to became of Kenneth?"
+
+"I have left him five thousand," said the woman.
+
+"Not enough to educate him properly," replied Patsy, with a shake of
+her head. "Why, the boy might become a famous artist, if he had good
+masters; and a person with an artistic temperament, such as his,
+should have enough money to be independent of his art."
+
+Aunt Jane coughed, unsympathetically.
+
+"The boy is nothing to me," she said.
+
+"But he ought to have Elmhurst, at least," pleaded the girl. "Won't
+you leave it to him, Aunt Jane?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then do as you please," cried Patsy, flying angry in her turn. "As a
+matter of justice, the place should never have been yours, and I won't
+accept a dollar of the money if I starve to death!"
+
+"Think of your father," suggested Aunt Jane, cunningly.
+
+"Ah, I've done that," said the girl, "and I know how many comforts I
+could buy for the dear Major. Also I'd like to go to a girl's college,
+like Smith or Wellesley, and get a proper education. But not with your
+money, Aunt Jane. It would burn my fingers. Always I would think that
+if you had not been hard and miserly this same money would have saved
+my mother's life. No! I loathe your money. Keep it or throw it to the
+dogs, if you won't give it to the boy it belongs to. But don't you
+dare to will your selfish hoard to me."
+
+"Let us change the subject, Patricia."
+
+"Will you change your will?"
+
+"No.".
+
+"Then I won't talk to you. I'm angry and hurt, and if I stay here I'll
+say things I shall be sorry for."
+
+With these words she marched out of the room, her cheeks flaming, and
+Aunt Jane looked after her with admiring eyes.
+
+"She's right," she whispered to herself. "It's just as I'd do under
+the same circumstances!"
+
+This interview was but the beginning of a series that lasted during
+the next fortnight, during which time the invalid persisted in sending
+for Patricia and fighting the same fight over and over again. Always
+the girl pleaded for Kenneth to inherit, and declared she would not
+accept the money and Elmhurst; and always Aunt Jane stubbornly refused
+to consider the boy and tried to tempt the girl with pictures of the
+luxury and pleasure that riches would bring her.
+
+The interviews were generally short and spirited, however, and during
+the intervals Patsy associated more than ever with her cousins, both
+of whom grew really fond of her.
+
+They fully believed Patricia when she declared she would never accept
+the inheritance, and although neither Beth nor Louise could understand
+such foolish sentimentality they were equally overjoyed at the girl's
+stand and the firmness with which she maintained it. With Patsy out of
+the field it was quite possible the estate would be divided between
+her cousins, or even go entire to one or the other of them; and this
+hope constantly buoyed their spirits and filled their days with
+interest as they watched the fight between their aunt and their
+cousin.
+
+Patricia never told them she was pleading so hard for the boy. It
+would only pain her cousins and make them think she was disloyal to
+their interests; but she lost no opportunity when with her Aunt Jane
+of praising Kenneth and proving his ability, and finally she seemed to
+win her point.
+
+Aunt Jane was really worn out with the constant squabbling with her
+favorite niece. She had taken a turn for the worse, too, and began to
+decline rapidly. So, her natural cunning and determination to have her
+own way enhanced by her illness, the woman decided to deceive Patricia
+and enjoy her few remaining days in peace.
+
+"Suppose," she said to Mr. Watson, "my present will stands, and after
+my death the estate becomes the property of Patricia. Can she refuse
+it?"
+
+"Not legally," returned the lawyer. "It would remain in her name,
+but under my control, during her minority. When she became of age,
+however, she could transfer it as she might choose."
+
+"By that time she will have gained more sense," declared Aunt Jane,
+much pleased with this aspect of the case, "and it isn't reasonable
+that having enjoyed a fortune for a time any girl would throw it away.
+I'll stick to my point, Silas, but I'll try to make Patricia believe
+she has won me over."
+
+Therefore, the very next time that the girl pleaded with her to make
+Kenneth her heir, she said, with a clever assumption of resignation:
+
+"Very well, Patricia; you shall have your way. My only desire, child,
+is to please you, as you well know, and if you long to see Kenneth the
+owner of Elmhurst I will have a new will drawn in his favor."
+
+Patricia could scarcely believe her ears.
+
+"Do you really mean it, aunt?" she asked, flushing red with pleasure.
+
+"I mean exactly what I say, and now let us cease all bickerings, my
+dear, and my few remaining days will be peaceful and happy."
+
+Patricia thanked her aunt with eager words, and said, as indeed she
+felt, that she could almost love Aunt Jane for her final, if dilatory,
+act of justice.
+
+Mr. Watson chanced to enter the room at that moment, and the girl
+cried out:
+
+"Tell him, aunt! Let him get the paper ready at once."
+
+"There is no reason for haste," said Aunt Jane, meeting; the lawyer's
+questioning gaze with some embarrassment.
+
+Silas Watson was an honorable and upright man, and his client's
+frequent doubtful methods had in past years met his severe censure.
+Yet he had once promised his dead friend, Tom Bradley, that he would
+serve Jane Merrick faithfully. He had striven to do so, bearing with
+her faults of character when he found that he could not correct them.
+His influence over her had never been very strong, however, and he had
+learned that it was the most easy as well as satisfactory method to
+bow to her iron will.
+
+Her recent questionings had prepared him for some act of duplicity,
+but he had by no means understood her present object, nor did she mean
+that he should. So she answered his questioning look by saying:
+
+"I have promised Patricia that you shall draw a new will, leaving
+all my estate to Kenneth Forbes, except for the bequests that are
+mentioned in the present paper."
+
+The lawyer regarded her with amazement. Then his brow darkened, for he
+thought she was playing with the girl, and was not sincere.
+
+"Tell him to draw up the paper right away, aunt!" begged Patricia,
+with sparkling eyes.
+
+"As soon as you can, Silas," said the invalid.
+
+"And, aunt, can't you spare a little more to Louise and Beth? It would
+make them so happy."
+
+"Double the amount I had allowed to each of them," the woman commanded
+her lawyer.
+
+"Can it all be ready to sign tonight?" asked Patsy, excitedly.
+
+"I'll try, my dear," replied the old lawyer, gravely. Then he turned
+to Jane Merrick.
+
+"Are you in earnest?" he asked.
+
+Patsy's heart suddenly sank.
+
+"Yes," was the reply. "I am tired of opposing this child's wishes.
+What do I care what becomes of my money, when I am gone? All that I
+desire is to have my remaining days peaceful."
+
+The girl spring forward and kissed her rapturously.
+
+"They shall be, aunt!" she cried. "I promise it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE GARDEN.
+
+
+From this hour Patsy devoted herself untiringly to Aunt Jane, and
+filled her days with as much sunshine as her merry ways and happy
+nature could confer. Yet there was one thing that rendered her uneasy:
+the paper that Lawyer Watson had so promptly drawn had never yet been
+signed and witnessed. Her aunt had allowed her to read it, saying she
+wished the girl to know she had acted in good faith, and Patsy had no
+fault at all to find with the document. But Aunt Jane was tired, and
+deferred signing it that evening. The next day no witnesses could be
+secured, and so another postponement followed, and upon one pretext or
+another the matter was put off until Patricia became suspicious.
+
+Noting this, Aunt Jane decided to complete her act of deception.
+She signed the will in the girl's presence, with Oscar and Susan to
+witness her signature. Lawyer Watson was not present on this occasion,
+and as soon as Patsy had left her Miss Merrick tore off the signatures
+and burned them, wrote "void" in bold letters across the face of the
+paper, and then, it being rendered of no value, she enclosed it in a
+large yellow envelope, sealed it, and that evening handed the envelope
+to Mr. Watson with the request that it be not opened until after her
+death.
+
+Patricia, in her delight, whispered to the lawyer that the paper
+was really signed, and he was well pleased and guarded the supposed
+treasure carefully. The girl also took occasion to inform both Beth
+and Louise that a new will had been made in which they both profited
+largely, but she kept the secret of who the real heir was, and both
+her cousins grew to believe they would share equally in the entire
+property.
+
+So now an air of harmony settled upon Elmhurst, and Uncle John
+joined the others in admiration of the girl who had conquered the
+stubbornness of her stern old aunt and proved herself so unselfish and
+true.
+
+One morning Aunt Jane had Phibbs wheel her into her little garden, as
+usual, and busied herself examining the flowers and plants of which
+she had always been so fond.
+
+"James has been neglecting his work, lately," she said, sharply, to
+her attendant.
+
+"He's very queer, ma'am," replied old Martha, "ever since the young
+ladies an' Master John came to Elmhurst. Strangers he never could
+abide, as you know, and he runs and hides himself as soon as he sees
+any of 'em about."
+
+"Poor James!" said Miss Merrick, recalling her old gardener's
+infirmity. "But he must not neglect my flowers in this way, or they
+will be ruined."
+
+"He isn't so afraid of Master John," went on Phibbs, reflectively, "as
+he is of the young ladies. Sometimes Master John talks to James,
+in his quiet way, and I've noticed he listens to him quite
+respectively--like he always does to you, Miss Jane."
+
+"Go and find James, and ask him to step here," commanded the mistress,
+"and then guard the opening in the hedge, and see that none of my
+nieces appear to bother him."
+
+Phibbs obediently started upon her errand, and came upon James in the
+tool-house, at the end of the big garden. He was working among his
+flower pots and seemed in a quieter mood than usual.
+
+Phibbs delivered her message, and the gardener at once started
+to obey. He crossed the garden unobserved and entered the little
+enclosure where Miss Jane's chair stood. The invalid was leaning back
+on her cushions, but her eyes were wide open and staring.
+
+"I've come, Miss," said James; and then, getting; no reply, he looked
+into her face. A gleam of sunlight filtered through the bushes and
+fell aslant Jane Merrick's eyes; but not a lash quivered.
+
+James gave a scream that rang through the air and silenced even the
+birds. Then, shrieking like the madman he was, he bounded away through
+the hedge, sending old Martha whirling into a rose-bush, and fled as
+if a thousand fiends were at his heels.
+
+John Merrick and Mr. Watson, who were not far off, aroused by the
+bloodcurdling screams, ran toward Aunt Jane's garden, and saw in a
+glance what had happened.
+
+"Poor Jane," whispered the brother, bending over to tenderly close the
+staring eyes, "her fate has overtaken her unawares."
+
+"Better so," said the lawyer, gently. "She has found Peace at last."
+
+Together they wheeled her back into her chamber, and called the women
+to care for their dead mistress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+READING THE WILL.
+
+
+Aunt Jane's funeral was extremely simple and quiet. The woman had
+made no friends during her long residence in the neighborhood, having
+isolated herself at "the big house" and refused to communicate in any
+way with the families living near by. Therefore, although her death
+undoubtedly aroused much interest and comment, no one cared to be
+present at the obsequies.
+
+So the minister came from Elmwood, and being unable to say much that
+was good or bad of "the woman who had departed from this vale of
+tears," he confined his remarks to generalities and made them as brief
+as possible. Then the body was borne to the little graveyard a mile
+away, followed by the state carriage, containing the three nieces
+and Kenneth; the drag with Silas Watson and Uncle John, the former
+driving; and then came the Elmhurst carryall with the servants. James
+did not join these last; nor did he appear at the house after
+that dreadful scene in the garden. He had a little room over the
+tool-house, which Jane Merrick had had prepared for him years ago, and
+here he locked himself in day and night, stealthily emerging but to
+secure the food Susan carried and placed before his door.
+
+No one minded James much, for all the inmates of Elhurst were under
+severe and exciting strain in the days preceding the funeral.
+
+The girls wept a little, but it was more on account of the solemnity
+following the shadow of death than for any great affection they bore
+their aunt. Patsy, indeed, tried to deliver a tribute to Aunt Jane's
+memory; but it was not an emphatic success.
+
+"I'm sure she had a good heart," said the girl, "and if she had lived
+more with her own family and cultivated her friends she would have
+been much less hard and selfish. At the last, you know, she was quite
+gentle."
+
+"I hadn't noticed it," remarked Beth.
+
+"Oh, I did. And she made a new will, after that awful one she told us
+of, and tried to be just and fair to all"
+
+"I'm glad to hear that" said Louise. "Tell us, Patsy, what does the
+will say? You must know all about it."
+
+"Mr. Watson is going to read it, after the funeral," replied the girl,
+"and then you will know as much about it as I do. I mustn't tell
+secrets, my dear."
+
+So Louise and Beth waited in much nervous excitement for the final
+realization of their hopes or fears, and during the drive to the
+cemetery there was little conversation in the state carriage.
+Kenneth's sensitive nature was greatly affected by the death of the
+woman who had played so important a part in the brief story of his
+life, and the awe it inspired rendered him gloomy and silent. Lawyer
+Watson had once warned him that Miss Merrick's death might make him an
+outcast, and he felt the insecurity of his present position.
+
+But Patsy, believing he would soon know of his good fortune, watched
+him curiously during the ride, and beamed upon him as frequently as
+her own low spirits would permit.
+
+"You know, Ken," she reminded him, "that whatever happens we are
+always to remain friends."
+
+"Of course," replied the boy, briefly.
+
+The girl had thrown aside her crutches, by this time, and planned to
+return to her work immediately after the funeral.
+
+The brief services at the cemetery being concluded, the little
+cavalcade returned to Elmhurst, where luncheon was awaiting them.
+
+Then Mr. Watson brought into the drawing room the tin box containing
+the important Elmhurst papers in his possession, and having requested
+all present to be seated he said:
+
+"In order to clear up the uncertainty that at present exists
+concerning Miss Merrick's last will and testament, I will now proceed
+to read to you the document, which will afterward be properly probated
+according to law."
+
+There was no need to request their attention. An intense stillness
+pervaded the room.
+
+The lawyer calmly unlocked the tin box and drew out the sealed yellow
+envelope which Miss Merrick had recently given him. Patsy's heart was
+beating with eager expectancy. She watched the lawyer break the seal,
+draw out the paper and then turn red and angry. He hesitated a moment,
+and then thrust the useless document into its enclosure and cast it
+aside.
+
+"Is anything wrong?" asked the girl in a low whisper, which was yet
+distinctly heard by all.
+
+Mr. Watson seemed amazed. Jane Merrick's deceitful trickery,
+discovered so soon after her death, was almost horrible for him to
+contemplate. He had borne much from this erratic woman, but had never
+believed her capable of such an act.
+
+So he said, in irritable tones:
+
+"Miss Merrick gave me this document a few days ago, leading me to
+believe it was her last will. I had prepared it under her instruction
+and understood that it was properly signed. But she has herself torn
+off and destroyed the signature and marked the paper 'void,' so that
+the will previously made is the only one that is valid."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Patsy, in amazement. "Isn't Kenneth to
+inherit Elmhurst, after all?"
+
+"Me! Me inherit?" exclaimed the boy.
+
+"That is what she promised me," declared Patsy, while tears of
+indignation stood in her eyes, "I saw her sign it, myself, and if she
+has fooled me and destroyed the signature she's nothing but an old
+fraud--and I'm glad she's dead!"
+
+With this she threw herself, sobbing, upon a sofa, and Louise and
+Beth, shocked to learn that after all their cousin had conspired
+against them, forebore any attempt to comfort her.
+
+But Uncle John, fully as indignant as Patricia, came to her side and
+laid a hand tenderly on the girl's head.
+
+"Never mind, little one." he said. "Jane was always cruel and
+treacherous by nature, and we might have expected she'd deceive her
+friends even in death. But you did the best you could, Patsy, dear,
+and it can't be helped now."
+
+Meantime the lawyer had been fumbling in the box, and now drew out the
+genuine will.
+
+"Give me your attention, please," said he.
+
+Patsy sat up and glared at him.
+
+"I won't take a cent of it!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Be silent!" demanded the lawyer, sternly. "You have all, I believe,
+been told by Miss Merrick of the terms of this will, which is properly
+signed and attested. But it is my duty to read it again, from
+beginning to end, and I will do so."
+
+Uncle John smiled when his bequest was mentioned, and Beth frowned.
+Louise, however, showed no sign of disappointment. There had been a
+miserable scramble for this inheritance, she reflected, and she was
+glad the struggle was over. The five thousand dollars would come in
+handy, after all, and it was that much more than she had expected to
+have before she received Aunt Jane's invitation. Perhaps she and her
+mother would use part of it for a European trip, if their future plans
+seemed to warrant it.
+
+"As far as I am concerned," said Patsy, defiantly, "you may as well
+tear up this will, too. I won't have that shameful old woman's money."
+
+"That is a matter the law does not allow you to decide," returned the
+lawyer, calmly. "You will note the fact that I am the sole executor of
+the estate, and must care for it in your interests until you are of
+age. Then it will he turned over to you to do as you please with."
+
+"Can I give it away, if I want to?"
+
+"Certainly. It is now yours without recourse, and although you cannot
+dispose of it until you are of legal age, there will be nothing then
+to prevent your transfering it to whomsoever you please. I called
+Miss Merrick's attention to this fact when you refused to accept the
+legacy."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+"That you would be more wise then, and would probably decide to keep
+it."
+
+Patsy turned impulsively to the boy.
+
+"Kenneth," she said, "I faithfully promise, in the presence of these
+witnesses, to give you Elmhurst and all Aunt Jane's money as soon as I
+am of age."
+
+"Good for you, Patsy," said Uncle John.
+
+The boy seemed bewildered.
+
+"I don't want the money--really I don't!" he protested. "The five
+thousand she left me will be enough. But I'd like to live here at
+Elmhurst for a time, until it's sold or some one else comes to live in
+the house!"
+
+"It's yours," said Patsy, with a grand air. "You can live here
+forever."
+
+Mr. Watson seemed puzzled.
+
+"If that is your wish, Miss Patricia," bowing gravely in her
+direction, "I will see that it is carried out. Although I am, in
+this matter, your executor, I shall defer to your wishes as much as
+possible."
+
+"Thank you," she said and then, after a moment's reflection, she
+added: "Can't you give to Louise and Beth the ten thousand dollars
+they were to have under the other will, instead of the five thousand
+each that this one gives them?"
+
+"I will consider that matter," he replied; "perhaps it can be
+arranged."
+
+Patsy's cousins opened their eyes at this, and began to regard her
+with more friendly glances. To have ten thousand each instead of
+five would be a very nice thing, indeed, and Miss Patricia Doyle
+had evidently become a young lady whose friendship it would pay to
+cultivate. If she intended to throw away the inheritance, a portion of
+it might fall to their share.
+
+They were expressing to Patsy their gratitude when old Donald suddenly
+appeared in the doorway and beckoned to Uncle John.
+
+"Will you please come to see James, sir?" he asked. "The poor fellow's
+dying."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+JAMES TELLS A STRANGE STORY.
+
+
+Uncle John followed the coachman up the stairs to the little room
+above the tool-house, where the old man had managed to crawl after old
+Sam had given him a vicious kick in the chest.
+
+"Is he dead?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir; but mortally hurt, I'm thinkin'. It must have happened while
+we were at the funeral."
+
+He opened the door, outside which Susan and Oscar watched with
+frightened faces, and led John Merrick into the room.
+
+James lay upon his bed with closed eyes. His shirt, above the breast,
+was reeking with blood.
+
+"The doctor should be sent for," said Uncle John.
+
+"He'll be here soon, for one of the stable boys rode to fetch him. But
+I thought you ought to know at once, sir."
+
+"Quite right, Donald."
+
+As they stood there the wounded man moved and opened his eyes, looking
+from one to the other of them wonderingly. Finally he smiled.
+
+"Ah, it's Donald," he said.
+
+"Yes, old friend," answered the coachman. "And this is Mr. John."
+
+"Mr. John? Mr. John? I don't quite remember you, sir," with a slight
+shake of the gray head. "And Donald, lad, you've grown wonderful old,
+somehow."
+
+"It's the years, Jeemes," was the reply. "The years make us all old,
+sooner or later."
+
+The gardener seemed puzzled, and examined his companions more
+carefully. He did not seem to be suffering any pain. Finally he
+sighed.
+
+"The dreams confuse me," he said, as if to explain something. "I can't
+always separate them, the dreams from the real. Have I been sick,
+Donald?"
+
+"Yes, lad. You're sick now."
+
+The gardener closed his eyes, and lay silent.
+
+"Do you think he's sane?" whispered Uncle John.
+
+"I do, sir. He's sane for the first time in years."
+
+James looked at them again, and slowly raised his hand to wipe the
+damp from his forehead.
+
+"About Master Tom," he said, falteringly. "Master Tom's dead, ain't
+he?"
+
+"Yes, Jeemes."
+
+"That was real, then, an' no dream. I mind it all, now--the shriek of
+the whistle, the crash, and the screams of the dying. Have I told you
+about it, Donald?"
+
+"No, lad."
+
+"It all happened before we knew it. I was on one side the car and
+Master Tom on the other. My side was on top, when I came to myself,
+and Master Tom was buried in the rubbish. God knows how I got him out,
+but I did. Donald, the poor master's side was crushed in, and both
+legs splintered. I knew at once he was dying, when I carried him to
+the grass and laid him down; and he knew it, too. Yes, the master knew
+he was done; and him so young and happy, and just about to be married
+to--to--the name escapes me, lad!"
+
+His voice sank to a low mumble, and he closed his eyes wearily.
+
+The watchers at his side stood still and waited. It might be that
+death had overtaken the poor fellow. But no; he moved again, and
+opened his eyes, continuing his speech in a stronger tone.
+
+"It was hard work to get the paper for Master Tom," he said; "but he
+swore he must have it before he died. I ran all the way to the station
+house and back--a mile or more--and brought the paper and a pen and
+ink, besides. It was but a telegraph blank--all I could find. Naught
+but a telegraph blank, lad."
+
+Again his voice trailed away into a mumbling whisper, but now Uncle
+John and Donald looked into one another's eyes with sudden interest.
+
+"He mustn't die yet!" said the little man; and the coachman leaned
+over the wounded form and said, distinctly:
+
+"Yes, lad; I'm listening."
+
+"To be sure," said James, brightening a bit. "So I held the paper for
+him, and the brakeman supported Master Tom's poor body, and he wrote
+out the will as clear as may be."
+
+"The will!"
+
+"Sure enough; Master Tom's last will. Isn't my name on it, too, where
+I signed it? And the conductor's beside it, for the poor brakeman
+didn't dare let him go? Of course. Who should sign the will with
+Master Tom but me--his old servant and friend? Am I right, Donald?"
+
+"Yes, lad."
+
+"'Now,' says Master Tom, 'take it to Lawyer Watson, James, and bid him
+care for it. And give my love to Jane--that's the name, Donald; the
+one I thought I'd forgot--'and now lay me back and let me die.' His
+very words, Donald. And we laid him back and he died. And he died.
+Poor Master Tom. Poor, poor young Master. And him to--be married--in
+a--"
+
+"The paper, James!" cried Uncle John, recalling the dying man to the
+present. "What became of it?"
+
+"Sir, I do not know you," answered James, suspiciously. "The paper's
+for Lawyer Watson. It's he alone shall have it."
+
+"Here I am, James," cried the lawyer, thrusting the others aside and
+advancing to the bed. "Give me the paper. Where is it? I am Lawyer
+Watson!"
+
+The gardener laughed--a horrible, croaking laugh that ended with a
+gasp of pain.
+
+"_You_ Lawyer Watson?" he cried, a moment later, in taunting tones.
+"Why, you old fool, Si Watson's as young as Master Tom--as young as I
+am! You--_you_ Lawyer Watson! Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+"Where is the paper?" demanded the lawyer fiercely.
+
+James stared at him an instant, and then suddenly collapsed and fell
+back inert upon the bed.
+
+"Have you heard all?" asked John Merrick, laying his hand on the
+lawyer's shoulder.
+
+"Yes; I followed you here as soon as I could. Tom Bradley made another
+will, as he lay dying. I must have it, Mr. Merrick."
+
+"Then you must find it yourself," said Donald gravely, "for James is
+dead."
+
+The doctor, arriving a few minutes later, verified the statement.
+It was evident that the old gardener, for years insane, had been so
+influenced by Miss Merrick's death that he had wandered into
+the stables where he received his death blow. When he regained
+consciousness the mania had vanished, and in a shadowy way he could
+remember and repeat that last scene of the tragedy that had deprived
+him of his reason. The story was logical enough, and both Mr. Watson
+and John Merrick believed it.
+
+"Tom Bradley was a level-headed fellow until he fell in love with your
+sister," said the lawyer to his companion. "But after that he would
+not listen to reason, and perhaps he had a premonition of his own
+sudden death, for he made a will bequeathing all he possessed to his
+sweetheart. I drew up the will myself, and argued against the folly of
+it; but he had his own way. Afterward, in the face of death, I believe
+he became more sensible, and altered his will."
+
+"Yet James' story may all be the effect of a disordered mind," said
+Uncle John.
+
+"I do not think, so; but unless he has destroyed the paper in his
+madness, we shall he able to find it among his possessions."
+
+With this idea in mind, Mr. Watson ordered the servants to remove the
+gardener's body to a room in the carriage-house, and as soon as this
+was done he set to work to search for the paper, assisted by John
+Merrick.
+
+"It was a telegraph blank, he said."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then we cannot mistake it, if we find any papers at all," declared
+the lawyer.
+
+The most likely places in James' room for anything to be hidden were a
+small closet, in which were shelves loaded with odds and ends, and an
+old clothes-chest that was concealed underneath the bed.
+
+This last was first examined, but found to contain merely an
+assortment of old clothing. Having tossed these in a heap upon the
+floor the lawyer begun an examination of the closet, the shelves
+promising well because of several bundles of papers they contained.
+
+While busy over these, he heard Uncle John say, quietly:
+
+"I've got it."
+
+The lawyer bounded from the closet. The little man had been searching
+the pockets of the clothing taken from the chest, and from a faded
+velvet coat he drew out the telegraph blank.
+
+"Is it the will?" asked the lawyer, eagerly.
+
+"Read it yourself," said Uncle John.
+
+Mr. Watson put on his glasses.
+
+"Yes; this is Tom Bradley's handwriting, sure enough. The will is
+brief, but it will hold good in law. Listen: I bequeath to Jane
+Merrick, my affianced bride, the possession and use of my estate
+during the term of her life. On her death all such possessions, with
+their accrument, shall be transferred to my sister, Katherine Bradley,
+if she then survives, to have and to hold by her heirs and assignees
+forever. But should she die without issue previous to the death of
+Jane Merrick, I then appoint my friend and attorney, Silas Watson, to
+distribute the property among such organized and worthy charities as
+he may select.' That is all."
+
+"Quite enough," said Uncle John, nodding approval.
+
+"And it is properly signed and witnessed. The estate is Kenneth's,
+sir, after all, for he is the sole heir of his mother. Katherine
+Bradley Forbes. Hurrah!" ended the lawyer, waving the yellow paper
+above his head.
+
+"Hurrah!" echoed Uncle John, gleefully; and the two men shook hands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+PATSY ADOPTS AN UNCLE.
+
+
+Uncle John and Mr. Watson did not appear at dinner, being closeted in
+the former's room. This meal, however, was no longer a state function,
+being served by the old servants as a mere matter of routine. Indeed,
+the arrangements of the household had been considerably changed by the
+death of its mistress, and without any real head to direct them
+the servants were patiently awaiting the advent of a new master or
+mistress. It did not seem clear to them yet whether Miss Patricia or
+Lawyer Watson was to take charge of Elmhurst: but there were few tears
+shed for Jane Merrick, and the new regime could not fail to be an
+improvement over the last.
+
+At dinner the young folks chatted together in a friendly and eager
+manner concerning the events of the day. They knew of old James'
+unfortunate end, but being unaware of its import gave it but passing
+attention. The main subject of conversation was Aunt Jane's surprising
+act in annulling her last will and forcing Patricia to accept the
+inheritance when she did not want it. Kenneth, being at his ease when
+alone with the three cousins, protested that it would not be right
+for Patsy to give him all the estate. But, as she was so generous,
+he would accept enough of his Uncle Tom's money to educate him as an
+artist and provide for himself an humble home. Louise and Beth, having
+at last full knowledge of their cousin's desire to increase their
+bequests, were openly very grateful for her good will; although
+secretly they could not fail to resent Patsy's choice of the boy as
+the proper heir of his uncle's fortune. The balance of power seemed to
+be in Patricia's hands, however; so it would be folly at this juncture
+to offend her.
+
+Altogether, they were all better provided for than they had feared
+would be the case; so the little party spent a pleasant evening and
+separated early, Beth and Louise to go to their rooms and canvass
+quietly the events of the day, and the boy to take a long stroll
+through the country lanes to cool his bewildered brain. Patsy wrote a
+long letter to the major, telling him she would be home in three days,
+and then she went to bed and slept peacefully.
+
+After breakfast they were all again summoned to the drawing-room, to
+their great surprise. Lawyer Watson and Uncle John were there, looking
+as grave as the important occasion demanded, and the former at once
+proceeded to relate the scene in James' room, his story of the death
+of Thomas Bradley, and the subsequent finding of the will.
+
+"This will, which has just been recovered," continued the lawyer,
+impressively, "was made subsequent to the one under which Jane
+Merrick inherited, and therefore supercedes it. Miss Jane had, as
+you perceive, a perfect right to the use of the estate during her
+lifetime, but no right whatever to will a penny of it to anyone. Mr.
+Bradley having provided for that most fully. For this reason the will
+I read to you yesterday is of no effect, and Kenneth Forbes inherits
+from his uncle, through his mother, all of the estate."
+
+Blank looks followed Mr. Watson's statement.
+
+"Good-by to my five thousand," said Uncle John, with his chuckling
+laugh. "But I'm much obliged to Jane, nevertheless."
+
+"Don't we get anything at all?" asked Beth, with quivering lip.
+
+"No, my dear," answered the lawyer, gently. "Your aunt owned nothing
+to give you."
+
+Patsy laughed. She felt wonderfully relieved.
+
+"Wasn't I the grand lady, though, with all the fortune I never had?"
+she cried merrily. "But 'twas really fine to be rich for a day, and
+toss the money around as if I didn't have to dress ten heads of hair
+in ten hours to earn my bread and butter."
+
+Louise smiled.
+
+"It was all a great farce," she said. "I shall take the afternoon
+train to the city. What an old fraud our dear Aunt Jane was! And how
+foolish of me to return her hundred dollar check."
+
+"I used mine," said Beth, bitterly. "It's all I'll ever get, it
+seems." And then the thought of the Professor and his debts overcame
+her and she burst, into tears.
+
+The boy sat doubled within his chair, so overcome by the extraordinary
+fortune that had overtaken him that he could not speak, nor think even
+clearly as yet.
+
+Patsy tried to comfort Beth.
+
+"Never mind, dear," said she. "We're no worse off than before we
+came, are we? And we've had a nice vacation. Let's forget all
+disappointments and be grateful to Aunt Jane's memory. As far as she
+knew, she tried to be good to us."
+
+"I'm going home today," said Beth, angrily drying her eyes.
+
+"We'll all go home," said Patsy, cheerfully.
+
+"For my part," remarked Uncle John, in a grave voice, "I have no
+home."
+
+Patsy ran up and put her arm around his neck.
+
+"Poor Uncle John!" she cried. "Why, you're worse off than any of us.
+What's going to become of you, I wonder?"
+
+"I'm wondering that myself," said the little man, meekly.
+
+"Ah! You can stay here," said the boy, suddenly arousing from his
+apathy.
+
+"No," replied Uncle John, "the Merricks are out of Elmhurst now, and
+it returns to its rightful owners. You owe me nothing, my lad."
+
+"But I like you," said Kenneth, "and you're old and homeless. Stay at
+Elmhurst, and you shall always be welcome."
+
+Uncle John seemed greatly affected, and wrung the boy's hand
+earnestly. But he shook his head.
+
+"I've wandered all my life," he said. "I can wander yet."
+
+"See here," exclaimed Patsy. "We're all three your nieces, and we'll
+take care of you between us. Won't we, girls?"
+
+Louise smiled rather scornfully, and Beth scowled.
+
+"My mother and I live so simply in our little flat," said one, "that
+we really haven't extra room to keep a cat. But we shall be glad to
+assist Uncle John as far as we are able."
+
+"Father can hardly support his own family," said the other; "but I
+will talk to my mother about Uncle John when I get home, and see what
+she says."
+
+"Oh, you don't need to, indeed!" cried Patsy, in great indignation.
+"Uncle John is my dear mother's brother, and he's to come and live
+with the Major and me, as long as he cares to. There's room and to
+spare, Uncle," turning to him and clasping his hand, "and a joyful
+welcome into the bargain. No, no! say nothing at all, sir! Come you
+shall, if I have to drag you; and if you act naughty I'll send for the
+Major to punish you!"
+
+Uncle John's eyes were moist. He looked on Patsy most affectionately
+and cast a wink at Lawyer Watson, who stood silently by.
+
+"Thank you, my dear," said he; "but where's the money to come from?"
+
+"Money? Bah!" she said. "Doesn't the Major earn a heap with his
+bookkeeping, and haven't I had a raise lately? Why, we'll be as snug
+and contented as pigs in clover. Can you get ready to come with me
+today, Uncle John?"
+
+"Yes," he said slowly. "I'll be ready, Patsy."
+
+So the exodus from Elmhurst took place that very day, and Beth
+travelled in one direction, while Louise, Patsy and Uncle John took
+the train for New York. Louise had a seat in the parlor car, but Patsy
+laughed at such extravagance.
+
+"It's so much easier than walking," she said to Uncle John, "that the
+common car is good enough," and the old man readily agreed with her.
+
+Kenneth and Mr. Watson came to the station to see them off, and they
+parted with many mutual expressions of friendship and good will.
+Louise, especially, pressed an urgent invitation upon the new master
+of Elmhurst to visit her mother in New York, and he said he hoped to
+see all the girls again. They were really like cousins to him, by this
+time. And after they were all gone he rode home on Nora's back quite
+disconsolate, in spite of his wonderful fortune.
+
+The lawyer, who had consented to stay at the mansion for a time, that
+the boy might not be lonely, had already mapped put a plan for the
+young heir's advancement. As he rode beside Kenneth he said:
+
+"You ought to travel, and visit the art centers of Europe, and I shall
+try to find a competent tutor to go with you."
+
+"Can't you go yourself?" asked the boy.
+
+The lawyer hesitated.
+
+"I'm getting old, and my clients are few and unimportant, aside from
+the Elmhurst interests," he said. "Perhaps I can manage to go abroad
+with you."
+
+"I'd like that," declared the boy. "And we'd stop in New York,
+wouldn't we, for a time?"
+
+"Of course. Do you want to visit New York especially?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It's rather a stupid city," said the lawyer, doubtfully.
+
+"That may be," answered the boy. "But Patsy will be there, you know."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+HOME AGAIN.
+
+
+The Major was at the station to meet them. Uncle John had shyly
+suggested a telegram, and Patsy had decided they could stand the
+expense for the pleasure of seeing the old Dad an hour sooner.
+
+The girl caught sight of him outside the gates, his face red and
+beaming as a poppy in bloom and his snowy moustache bristling with
+eagerness. At once she dropped her bundles and flew to the Major's
+arms, leaving the little man in her wake to rescue her belongings and
+follow after.
+
+He could hardly see Patsy at all, the Major wrapped her in such an
+ample embrace; but bye and bye she escaped to get her breath, and then
+her eyes fell upon the meek form holding her bundles.
+
+"Oh, Dad," she cried, "here's Uncle John, who has come to live with
+us; and if you don't love him as much as I do I'll make your life
+miserable!"
+
+"On which account," said the Major, grasping the little man's hand
+most cordially, "I'll love Uncle John like my own brother. And
+surely," he added, his voice falling tenderly, "my dear Violet's
+brother must be my own. Welcome, sir, now and always, to our little
+home. It's modest, sir; but wherever Patsy is the sun is sure to
+shine."
+
+"I can believe that," said Uncle John, with a nod and smile.
+
+They boarded a car for the long ride up town, and as soon as they were
+seated Patsy demanded the story of the Major's adventures with his
+colonel, and the old fellow rattled away with the eagerness of a
+boy, telling every detail in the most whimsical manner, and finding
+something humorous in every incident.
+
+"Oh, but it was grand, Patsy!" he exclaimed, "and the Colonel wept on
+my neck when we parted and stained the collar of me best coat, and he
+give me a bottle of whiskey that would make a teetotaler roll his eyes
+in ecstacy. 'Twas the time of my life."
+
+"And you're a dozen years younger, Major!" she cried, laughing, "and
+fit to dig into work like a pig in clover."
+
+His face grew grave.
+
+"But how about the money, Patsy dear?" he asked. "Did you get nothing
+out of Jane Merrick's estate?"
+
+"Not a nickle, Dad. 'Twas the best joke you ever knew. I fought with
+Aunt Jane like a pirate and it quite won her heart. When she died she
+left me all she had in the world."
+
+"Look at that, now!" said the Major, wonderingly.
+
+"Which turned out to be nothing at all," continued Patsy. "For another
+will was found, made by Mr. Thomas Bradley, which gave the money to
+his own nephew after Aunt Jane died. Did you ever?"
+
+"Wonderful!" said the Major, with a sigh.
+
+"So I was rich for half a day, and then poor as ever."
+
+"It didn't hurt you, did it?" asked the Major. "You weren't vexed with
+disappointment, were you, Patsy?"
+
+"Not at all, Daddy."
+
+"Then don't mind it, child. Like as not the money would be the
+ruination of us all. Eh, sir?" appealing to Uncle John.
+
+"To be sure," said the little man. "Jane left five thousand to me,
+also, which I didn't get. But I'm not sorry at all."
+
+"Quite right, sir," approved the Major, sympathetically, "although
+it's easier not to expect anything at all, than to set your heart on a
+thing and then not get it. In your case, it won't matter. Our house is
+yours, and there's plenty and to spare."
+
+"Thank you," said Uncle John, his face grave but his eyes merry.
+
+"Oh, Major!" cried Patsy, suddenly. "There's Danny Reeves's
+restaurant. Let's get off and have our dinner now; I'm as hungry as a
+bear."
+
+So they stopped the car and descended, lugging all the parcels into
+the little restaurant, where they were piled into a chair while the
+proprietor and the waiters all gathered around Patsy to welcome her
+home.
+
+My, how her eyes sparkled! She fairly danced for joy, and ordered the
+dinner with reckless disregard of the bill.
+
+"Ah, but it's good to be back," said the little Bohemian, gleefully.
+"The big house at Elmhurst was grand and stately, Major, but there
+wasn't an ounce of love in the cupboard."
+
+"Wasn't I there. Patsy?" asked Uncle John, reproachfully.
+
+"True, but now you're here; and our love, Uncle, has nothing to do
+with Elmhurst. I'll bet a penny you liked it as little as I did."
+
+"You'd win," admitted the little man.
+
+"And now," said the girl to the smiling waiter, "a bottle of red
+California wine for Uncle John and the Major, and two real cigars.
+We'll be merry tonight if it bankrupts the Doyle family entirely."
+
+But, after a merry meal and a good one, there was no bill at all when
+it was called for.
+
+Danny Reeves himself came instead, and made a nice little speech,
+saying that Patsy had always brought good luck to the place, and this
+dinner was his treat to welcome her home.
+
+So the Major thanked him with gracious dignity and Patsy kissed Danny
+on his right cheek, and then they went away happy and content to find
+the little rooms up the second flight of the old tenement.
+
+"It's no palace," said Patsy, entering to throw down the bundles as
+soon as the Major unlocked the door, "but there's a cricket in the
+hearth, and it's your home, Uncle John, as well as ours."
+
+Uncle John looked around curiously. The place was so plain after the
+comparative luxury of Elmhurst, and especially of the rose chamber
+Patsy had occupied, that the old man could not fail to marvel at the
+girl's ecstatic joy to find herself in the old tenement again. There
+was one good sized living-room, with an ancient rag-carpet partially
+covering the floor, a sheet-iron stove, a sofa, a table and three or
+four old-fashioned chairs that had probably come from a second-hand
+dealer.
+
+Opening from this were two closet-like rooms containing each a bed and
+a chair, with a wash-basin on a bracket shelf. On the wails were a
+few colored prints from the Sunday newspapers and one large and fine
+photograph of a grizzled old soldier that Uncle John at once decided
+must represent "the Colonel."
+
+Having noted these details, Patsy's uncle smoothed back his stubby
+gray hair with a reflective and half puzzled gesture.
+
+"It's cozy enough, my child; and I thank you for my welcome," said he.
+"But may I enquire where on earth you expect to stow me in this rather
+limited establishment?"
+
+"Where? Have you no eyes, then?" she asked, in astonishment. "It's the
+finest sofa in the world, Uncle John, and you'll sleep there like a
+top, with the dear Colonel's own picture looking down at you to keep
+you safe and give you happy dreams. Where, indeed!"
+
+"Ah; I see," said Uncle John.
+
+"And you can wash in my chamber," added the Major, with a grand air,
+"and hang your clothes on the spare hooks behind my door."
+
+"I haven't many," said Uncle John, looking thoughtfully at his red
+bundle.
+
+The Major coughed and turned the lamp a little higher.
+
+"You'll find the air fine, and the neighborhood respectable," he said,
+to turn the subject. "Our modest apartments are cool in summer and
+warm in winter, and remarkably reasonable in price. Patsy gets our
+breakfast on the stove yonder, and we buy our lunches down town, where
+we work, and then dine at Danny Reeves's place. A model home, sir, and
+a happy one, as I hope you'll find it."
+
+"I'm sure to be happy here," said Uncle John, taking out his pipe.
+"May I smoke?"
+
+"Of course; but don't spoil the lace curtains, dear," answered Patsy,
+mischievously. And then, turning to her father, she exclaimed: "Oh,
+daddy! What will the Uncle do all the day while we're at work?"
+
+"That's as he may choose," said the Major, courteously.
+
+"Couldn't we get him a job?" asked Patsy, wistfully. "Not where
+there'll be much work, you know, for the Uncle is old. But just to
+keep him out of mischief, and busy. He can't hang around all day and
+be happy, I suppose."
+
+"I'll look around," answered the Major, briskly, as if such a "job"
+was the easiest thing in the world to procure. "And meantime--"
+
+"Meantime," said Uncle John, smiling at them, "I'll look around
+myself."
+
+"To be sure," agreed the Major. "Between the two of us and Patsy, we
+ought to have no trouble at all."
+
+There was a moment of thoughtful silence after this, and then Patsy
+said:
+
+"You know it won't matter, Uncle John, if you don't work. There'll
+easy be enough for all, with the Major's wages and my own."
+
+"By the bye," added the Major, "if you have any money about you, which
+is just possible, sir, of course, you'd better turn it over to Patsy
+to keep, and let her make you an allowance. That's the way I do--it's
+very satisfactory."
+
+"The Major's extravagant," exclaimed Patsy; "and if he has money he
+wants to treat every man he meets."
+
+Uncle John shook his head, reproachfully, at the Major.
+
+"A very bad habit, sir," he said.
+
+"I acknowledge it, Mr. Merrick," responded the Major. "But Patsy is
+fast curing me. And, after all, it's a wicked city to be carrying a
+fat pocketbook around in, as I've often observed."
+
+"My pocketbook is not exactly fat," remarked Uncle John.
+
+"But you've money, sir, for I marked you squandering it on the train,"
+said Patsy, severely. "So out with it, and we'll count up, and see how
+much of an allowance I can make you 'till you get the job."
+
+Uncle John laughed and drew his chair up to the table. Then he emptied
+his trousers' pockets upon the cloth, and Patsy gravely separated the
+keys and jackknife from the coins and proceeded to count the money.
+
+"Seven dollars and forty-two cents," she announced. "Any more?"
+
+Uncle John hesitated a moment, and then drew from an inner pocket of
+his coat a thin wallet. From this, when she had received it from his
+hand, the girl abstracted two ten and one five dollar bills, all crisp
+and new.
+
+"Good gracious!" she cried, delightedly. "All this wealth, and you
+pleading poverty?"
+
+"I never said I was a pauper," returned Uncle John, complacently.
+
+"You couldn't, and be truthful, sir," declared the girl. "Why, this
+will last for ages, and I'll put it away safe and be liberal with
+your allowance. Let me see," pushing the coins about with her slender
+fingers, "you just keep the forty-two cents, Uncle John. It'll do for
+car-fare and a bit of lunch now and then, and when you get broke you
+can come to me."
+
+"He smokes," observed the Major, significantly.
+
+"Bah! a pipe," said Patsy. "And Bull Durham is only five cents a bag,
+and a bag ought to last a week. And every Saturday night, sir, you
+shall have a cigar after dinner, with the Major. It's it our regular
+practice."
+
+"Thank you, Patsy," said Uncle John, meekly, and gathered up his
+forty-two cents.
+
+"You've now a home, and a manager, sir, with money in the bank of
+Patsy & Company, Limited," announced the Major. "You ought to be very
+contented, sir."
+
+"I am," replied Uncle John.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+UNCLE JOHN ACTS QUEERLY.
+
+
+When Patsy and the Major had both departed for work on Monday morning
+Uncle John boarded a car and rode downtown also. He might have
+accompanied them part of the way, but feared Patsey might think him
+extravagant if she found him so soon breaking into the working fund of
+forty-two cents, which she charged him to be careful of.
+
+He seemed to be in no hurry, for it was early yet, and few of the
+lower Broadway establishments were open. To pass the time he turned
+into a small restaurant and had coffee and a plate of cakes, in spite
+of the fact that Patsy had so recently prepared coffee over the
+sheet-iron stove and brought some hot buns from a near-by bakery. He
+was not especially hungry; but in sipping the coffee and nibbling the
+cakes he passed the best part of an hour.
+
+He smiled when he paid out twenty-five cents of his slender store for
+the refreshment. With five cents for car-fare he had now but twelve
+cents left of the forty-two Patsy had given him! Talk about the
+Major's extravagance: it could not be compared to Uncle John's.
+
+Another hour was spent in looking in at the shop windows. Then,
+suddenly noting the time. Uncle John started down the street at a
+swinging pace, and presently paused before a building upon which was
+a sign, reading: "Isham, Marvin & Co., Bankers and Brokers." A
+prosperous looking place, it seemed, with a host of clerks busily
+working in the various departments. Uncle John walked in, although the
+uniformed official at the door eyed him suspiciously.
+
+"Mr. Marvin in?" he inquired, pleasantly.
+
+"Not arrived yet," said the official, who wore a big star upon his
+breast.
+
+"I'll wait," announced Uncle John, and sat down upon a leather-covered
+bench.
+
+The official strutted up and down, watching the customers who entered
+the bank or departed, and keeping a sharp watch on the little man upon
+the bench.
+
+Another hour passed.
+
+Presently Uncle John jumped up and approached the official.
+
+"Hasn't Mr. Marvin arrived yet?" he enquired, sharply.
+
+"An hour ago," was the reply.
+
+"Then why didn't you let me know? I want to see him."
+
+"He's busy mornings. Has to look over the mail. He can't see you yet."
+
+"Well, he will see me, and right away. Tell him John Merrick is here."
+
+"Your card, sir."
+
+"I haven't any. My name will do."
+
+The official hesitated, and glanced at the little man's seedy garb and
+countryfied air. But something in the angry glance of the shrewd
+eye made him fear he had made a mistake. He opened a small door and
+disappeared.
+
+In a moment the door burst open to allow egress to a big, red-bearded
+man in his shirtsleeves, who glanced around briefly and then rushed at
+Uncle John and shook both his hands cordially.
+
+"My dear Mr. Merrick!" he exclaimed, "I'm delighted and honored to see
+you here. Come to my room at once. A great surprise and pleasure, sir!
+Thomas, I'm engaged!"
+
+This last was directed at the head of the amazed porter, who, as the
+door slammed in his face, nodded solemnly and remarked:
+
+"Fooled ag'in, and I might 'a' known it. Drat these 'ere billionaires!
+Why don't they dress like decent people?"
+
+Uncle John had been advised by Patsy where to go for a good cheap
+luncheon; but he did not heed her admonition. Instead, he rode in a
+carriage beside the banker to a splendid club, where he was served
+with the finest dishes the chef could provide on short notice.
+Moreover, Mr. Marvin introduced him to several substantial gentlemen
+as "Mr. John Merrick, of Portland"; and each one bowed profoundly and
+declared he was "highly honored."
+
+Yet Uncle John seemed in no way elated by this reception. He retained
+his simple manner, although his face was more grave than Patsy had
+often seen it; and he talked with easy familiarity of preferred stocks
+and amalgamated interests and invested, securities and many other
+queer things that the banker seemed to understand fully and to listen
+to with respectful deference.
+
+Then they returned to the bank for another long session together, and
+there was quite an eager bustle among the clerks as they stretched
+their necks to get a glimpse of Mr. Marvin's companion.
+
+"It's John Merrick" passed from mouth to mouth, and the uniformed
+official strutted from one window to another, saying:
+
+"I showed him in myself. And he came into the bank as quiet like as
+anyone else would."
+
+But he didn't go away quietly, you may be sure. Mr. Marvin and Mr.
+Isham both escorted their famous client to the door, where the Marvin
+carriage had been ordered to be in readiness for Mr. Merrick's
+service.
+
+But Uncle John waived it aside disdainfully.
+
+"I'll walk," he said. "There are some other errands to attend to."
+
+So they shook his hand and reminded him of a future appointment and
+let him go his way. In a moment the great Broadway crowd had swallowed
+up John Merrick, and five minutes later he was thoughtfully gazing
+into a shop window again.
+
+By and bye he bethought himself of the time, and took a cab uptown. He
+had more than the twelve cents in his pocket, now, besides the check
+book which was carefully hidden away in an inside pocket; so the cost
+of the cab did not worry him. He dismissed the vehicle near an uptown
+corner and started to walk hastily toward Danny Reeves's restaurant, a
+block away, Patsy was standing in the doorway, anxiously watching for
+him.
+
+"Oh, Uncle John," she cried, as he strolled "I've been really worried
+about you; it's such a big city, and you a stranger. Do you know
+you're ten minutes late?"
+
+"I'm sorry," he said, humbly; "but it's a long way here from
+downtown."
+
+"Didn't you take a car?"
+
+"No, my dear."
+
+"Why, you foolish old Uncle! Come in at once. The Major has been
+terribly excited over you, and swore you should not be allowed to
+wander through the streets without someone to look after you. But what
+could we do?"
+
+"I'm all right," declared Uncle John, cordially shaking hands with
+Patsy's father. "Have you had a good day?"
+
+"Fine," said the Major. "They'd missed me at the office, and were glad
+to have me back. And what do you think? I've got a raise."
+
+"Really?" said Uncle John, seeing it was expected of him.
+
+"For a fact. It's Patsy's doing, I've no doubt. She wheedled the firm
+into giving me a vacation, and now they're to pay me twelve a week
+instead of ten."
+
+"Is that enough?" asked Uncle John, doubtfully.
+
+"More than enough, sir. I'm getting old, and can't earn as much as a
+younger man. But I'm pretty tough, and mean to hold onto that twelve a
+week as long as possible."
+
+"What pay do you get, Patsy?" asked Uncle John.
+
+"Almost as much as Daddy. We're dreadfully rich, Uncle John; so you
+needn't worry if you don't strike a job yourself all at once."
+
+"Any luck today, sir," asked the Major, tucking a napkin under his
+chin and beginning on the soup.
+
+Uncle John shook his head.
+
+"Of course not," said Patsy, quickly. "It's too early, as yet. Don't
+hurry, Uncle John. Except that it'll keep you busy, there's no need
+for you to work at all."
+
+"You're older than I am," suggested the Major, "and that makes it
+harder to break in. But there's no hurry, as Patsy says."
+
+Uncle John did not seem to be worrying over his idleness. He kept on
+questioning his brother-in-law and his niece about their labors, and
+afterward related to them the sights he had seen in the shop windows.
+Of course he could not eat much after the feast he had had at
+luncheon, and this disturbed Patsy a little. She insisted he was
+tired, and carried her men away to the tenement rooms as soon as
+possible, where she installed them at the table to play cribbage until
+bed-time.
+
+The next day Uncle John seemed to be busy enough, although of course
+Patsy could not know what he was doing. He visited a real-estate
+office, for one thing, and then telephoned Isham, Marvin & Co. and
+issued a string of orders in a voice not nearly so meek and mild as
+it was when he was in Patsy's presence. Whatever he had undertaken
+required time, for all during the week he left the tenement directly
+the Major and his daughter had gone to the city, and bustled about
+until it was time to meet them for dinner at the restaurant. But he
+was happy and in good spirits and enjoyed his evening game of cribbage
+with the Major exceedingly.
+
+"You must be nearly bankrupt, by this time," said Patsy on Tuesday
+evening.
+
+"It's an expensive city to live in," sighed Uncle John.
+
+She gave him fifty cents of his money, then, and on Friday fifty cents
+more.
+
+"After a time," she said, "you'll manage to get along with less. It's
+always harder to economize at first."
+
+"How about the bills?" he inquired. "Don't I pay my share of them?"
+
+"Your expenses are nothing at all," declared the Major, with a wave of
+his hand.
+
+"But my dinners at Danny Reeves' place must cost a lot," protested
+Uncle John.
+
+"Surely not; Patsy has managed all that for a trifle, and the pleasure
+of your company more than repays us for the bit of expense."
+
+On Saturday night there was a pint of red wine for the two men, and
+then the weekly cigars were brought--very inexpensive ones, to be
+sure. The first whiff he took made Uncle John cough; but the Major
+smoked so gracefully and with such evident pleasure that his
+brother-in-law clung manfully to the cigar, and succeeded in consuming
+it to the end.
+
+"Tomorrow is the day of rest," announced Patsy, "so we'll all go for a
+nice walk in the parks after breakfast."
+
+"And we sleep 'till eight o'clock, don't we, Patsy?" asked the Major.
+
+"Of course."
+
+"And the eggs for breakfast?"
+
+"I've bought them already, three for a nickle. You don't care for more
+than one, do you, Uncle John?"
+
+"No, my dear."
+
+"It's our Sunday morning extra--an egg apiece. The Major is so fond of
+them."
+
+"And so am I, Patsy."
+
+"And now we'll have our cribbage and get to bed early. Heigho! but
+Sunday's a great day for folks that work."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A BUNCH OF KEYS.
+
+
+Uncle John did not sleep well. Perhaps he had a guilty conscience.
+Anyway, he tossed about a good deal on the sofa-bed in the
+living-room, and wore himself out to such an extent that when Patsy
+got up at eight o'clock her uncle had fallen into his first sound
+sleep.
+
+She never disturbed him until she had made the fire and cooked the
+coffee and boiled the three white eggs. By this time the Major was
+dressed and shaved, and he aroused Uncle John and bade him hurry into
+the closet and make his toilet, "so that Patsy could put the house to
+rights."
+
+Uncle John obeyed eagerly, and was ready as soon as the Major had
+brought the smoking rolls from the bakery. Ah, but it was a merry
+breakfast; and a delicious one into the bargain. Uncle John seemed
+hungry, and looked at the empty egg-shells regretfully.
+
+"Next time, Patsy," he said, "you must buy six eggs."
+
+"Look at his recklessness!" cried Patsy, laughing. "You're just as bad
+as the Major, every bit. If you men hadn't me for a guardian you'd be
+in the poorhouse in a month."
+
+"But we have you, my dear," said Uncle John, smiling into her dancing
+eyes; "so we won't complain at one egg instead of two."
+
+Just then someone pounded on the door, and the girl ran to open it.
+There was a messenger boy outside, looking smart and neat in his
+blue-and-gold uniform, and he touched his cap politely to the girl.
+
+"Miss Patricia Doyle?"
+
+"That's me."
+
+"A parcel for you. Sign here, please."
+
+Patsy signed, bothering her head the while to know what the little
+package contained and who could have sent it. Then the boy was gone,
+and she came back slowly to the breakfast table, with the thing in her
+hand.
+
+"What is it, Patsy?" asked the Major, curiously.
+
+"I'm dying to know, myself," said the girl.
+
+Uncle John finished his coffee, looking unconcerned.
+
+"A good way is to open it," remarked the Major.
+
+It was a very neat package, wrapped in fine paper and sealed with red
+wax. Patsy turned it over once or twice, and then broke the wax and
+untied the cord.
+
+A bunch of keys fell out first--seven of them, strung on a purple
+ribbon--and then a flat, impressive looking letter was discovered.
+
+The Major stared open-mouthed. Uncle John leaned back in his chair and
+watched the girl's face.
+
+"There's a mistake," said Patsy, quite bewildered. Then she read her
+name upon the wrapper, quite plainly written, and shook her head.
+"It's for me, all right. But what does it mean?"
+
+"Why not read the letter?" suggested the Major.
+
+So she opened the big envelope and unfolded the stiff paper and read
+as follows:
+
+"Miss Patricia Doyle, Becker's Flats, Duggan Street, New York. Dear
+Miss Doyle: An esteemed client of our house, who desires to remain
+unknown, has placed at your disposal the furnished apartments 'D,'
+at 3708 Willing Square, for the period of three years, or as long
+thereafter as you may care to retain them. Our client begs you to
+consider everything the apartments contain as your own, and to use
+it freely as it may please you. All rentals and rates are paid in
+advance, and you are expected to take possession at once. Moreover,
+our firm is commanded to serve you in any and every way you may
+require, and it will be our greatest pleasure to be of use to you. The
+keys to the apartments are enclosed herewith.
+
+"Most respectfully,
+
+"Isham, Marvin & Co."
+
+Having read this to the end, in a weak voice and with many pauses,
+Miss Patricia Doyle sat down in her chair with strange abruptness and
+stared blankly at her father. The Major stared back. So did Uncle
+John, when her eyes roved toward his face.
+
+Patricia turned the keys over, and jingled them. Then she referred to
+the letter again.
+
+"Apartments D, at 3708 Willing Square. Where's that?"
+
+The Major shook his head. So did Uncle John.
+
+"Might look in a directory" suggested the latter, uncertainly.
+
+"Of course," added the Major.
+
+"But what does it all mean?" demanded Patsy, with sudden fierceness.
+"Is it a joke? Isham, Marvin & Co., the great bankers! What do I know
+of them, or they of me?"
+
+"That isn't the point," observed the Major, reflectively. "Who's their
+unknown and mysterious client? That's the question."
+
+"To be sure," said Uncle John. "They're only the agents. You must have
+a fairy godmother, Patsy."
+
+She laughed at the idea, and shook her head.
+
+"They don't exist in these days, Uncle John. But the whole thing must
+be a joke, and nothing more."
+
+"We'll discover that," asserted the Major, shrewdly scrutinizing
+the letter, which he had taken from Patsy's hands. "It surely looks
+genuine enough, on the face of it. I've seen the bank letter-head
+before, and this is no forgery, you can take my word. Get your things
+on, Patsy. Instead of walking in the park we'll hunt up Willing
+Square, and we'll take the keys with us."
+
+"A very good idea," said Uncle John. "I'd like to go with you, if I
+may."
+
+"Of course you may," answered the girl. "You're one of the family now,
+Uncle John, and you must help us to unravel the mystery."
+
+The Major took off his carpet slippers and pulled on his boots, while
+Patricia was getting ready for the walk. Uncle John wandered around
+the room aimlessly for a time, and then took off his black tie and put
+on the white one.
+
+Patsy noticed this, when she came out of her closet, and laughed
+merrily.
+
+"You mustn't be getting excited, Uncle John, until we see how this
+wonderful adventure turns out." she said. "But I really must wash and
+iron that necktie for you, if you're going to wear it on Sundays."
+
+"Not a bad idea," said the Major. "But come, are we all ready?"
+
+They walked down the rickety steps very gravely and sedately, Patsy
+jingling the keys as they went, and made their way to the corner drug
+store, where the Major searched in the directory for Willing Square.
+
+To his surprise it proved to be only a few blocks away.
+
+"But it's in the dead swell neighborhood," he explained, "where I have
+no occasion to visit. We can walk it in five minutes."
+
+Patsy hesitated.
+
+"Really, it's no use going, Dad," she protested. "It isn't in reason
+that I'd have a place presented me in a dead swell neighborhood. Now,
+is it?"
+
+"We'll have to go, just the same," said Uncle John. "I couldn't sleep
+a wink tonight if we didn't find out what this all means."
+
+"True enough," agreed the Major. "Come along, Patsy; it's this way."
+
+Willing Square was not very big, but it was beautiful with flowers and
+well tended and 3708 proved to be a handsome building with a white
+marble front, situated directly on a corner. The Major examined it
+critically from the sidewalk, and decided it contained six suites of
+apartments, three on each side.
+
+"D must be the second floor to the right." he said, "and that's a fine
+location, sure enough."
+
+A porter appeared at the front door, which stood open, and examined
+the group upon the sidewalk with evident curiosity.
+
+Patsy walked up to him, and ignoring the big gold figures over the
+entrance she enquired:
+
+"Is this 3708 Willing Square?"
+
+"Yes, Miss," answered the porter; "are you Miss Doyle?"
+
+"I am," she answered, surprised.
+
+"One flight up, Miss, and turn to the right," he continued, promptly;
+and then he winked over the girl's head at Uncle John, who frowned so
+terribly that the man drew aside and disappeared abruptly. The Major
+and Patsy were staring at one another, however, and did not see this
+by-play.
+
+"Let's go up," said the Major, in a husky voice, and proceeded to
+mount the stairs.
+
+Patsy followed close behind, and then came Uncle John. One flight up
+they paused at a door marked "D", upon the panel of which was a rack
+bearing a card printed with the word "Doyle."
+
+"Well, well!" gasped the Major. "Who'd have thought it, at all at
+all!"
+
+Patsy, with trembling fingers, put a key in the lock, and after one or
+two efforts opened the door.
+
+The sun was shining brilliantly into a tiny reception hall, furnished
+most luxuriously.
+
+The Major placed his hat on the rack, and Uncle John followed suit.
+
+No one spoke a word as they marched in humble procession into the
+living-room, their feet pressing without sound into the thick rugs.
+Everything here was fresh and new, but selected with excellent taste
+and careful attention to detail. Not a thing; was lacking, from the
+pretty upright piano to the enameled clock ticking upon the mantel.
+The dining-room was a picture, indeed, with stained-glass windows
+casting their soft lights through the draperies and the side-board
+shining with silver and glass. There was a cellarette in one corner,
+the Major noticed, and it was well stocked.
+
+Beyond was a pantry with well filled shelves and then the
+kitchen--this last filled with every article that could possibly
+be needed. In a store-room were enough provisions to stock a
+grocery-store and Patsy noted with amazement that there was ice in the
+refrigerator, with cream and milk and butter cooling beside it.
+
+They felt now as if they were intruding in some fairy domain. It was
+all exquisite, though rather tiny; but such luxury was as far removed
+from the dingy rooms they had occupied as could well be imagined. The
+Major coughed and ahemmed continually; Patsy ah'd and oh'd and seemed
+half frightened; Uncle John walked after them silently, but with a
+pleased smile that was almost childish upon his round and rugged face.
+
+Across the hall were three chambers, each with a separate bath, while
+one had a pretty dressing-room added.
+
+"This will be Patsy's room," said the Major, with a vast amount of
+dignity.
+
+"Of course," said Uncle John. "The pins on the cushion spell
+'Patricia,' don't they?"
+
+"So they do!" cried Patsy, greatly delighted.
+
+"And this room," continued the Major, passing into the next, "will be
+mine. There are fine battle-scenes on the wall; and I declare, there's
+just the place for the colonel's photograph over the dresser!"
+
+"Cigars, too," said Patsy, opening a little cabinet; "but 'twill be a
+shame to smoke in this palace."
+
+"Then I won't live here!" declared the Major, stoutly, but no one
+heeded him.
+
+"Here is Uncle John's room," exclaimed the girl, entering the third
+chamber.
+
+"Mine?" enquired Uncle John in mild surprise.
+
+"Sure, sir; you're one of the family, and I'm glad it's as good as the
+Major's, every bit."
+
+Uncle John's eyes twinkled.
+
+"I hope the bed is soft," he remarked, pressing it critically.
+
+"It's as good as the old sofa, any day," said Patsy, indignantly.
+
+Just then a bell tinkled, and after looking at one another in silent
+consternation for a moment, the Major tiptoed stealthily to the front
+door, followed by the others.
+
+"What'll we do?" asked Patsy, in distress.
+
+"Better open it," suggested Uncle John, calmly.
+
+The Major did so, and there was a little maid bowing and smiling
+outside. She entered at once, closing the door behind her, and bowed
+again.
+
+"This is my new mistress, I suppose," she said, looking at Patsy. "I
+am your servant, Miss Patricia."
+
+Patsy gasped and stared at her. The maid was not much older than she
+was, but she looked pleasant and intelligent and in keeping with the
+rooms. She wore a gray dress with white collar and white apron and
+cap, and seemed so dainty and sweet that the Major and Uncle John
+approved her at once.
+
+Patsy sat down, from sheer lack of strength to stand up.
+
+"Who hired you, then?" she asked.
+
+"A gentleman from the bank," was the reply. "I'm Mary, if you please,
+Miss. And my wages are all arranged for in advance, so there will be
+nothing for you to pay," said the little maid.
+
+"Can you cook?" asked Patsy, curiously.
+
+"Yes, Miss," with a smile. "The dinner will be ready at one o'clock."
+
+"Oh; you've been here before, then?"
+
+"Two days, Miss, getting ready for you."
+
+"And where will you sleep?"
+
+"I've a little room beyond the kitchen. Didn't you see it, Miss
+Patricia?"
+
+"No, Mary."
+
+"Anything more at present, Miss Patricia?"
+
+"No, Mary."
+
+The maid bowed again, and disappeared toward the kitchen, leaving an
+awe-struck group behind her.
+
+The Major whistled softly. Uncle John seemed quite unconcerned. Patsy
+took out her handkerchief. The tears _would_ come in spite of her
+efforts.
+
+"I--I--I'm going to have a good cry," she sobbed, and rushed into the
+living-room to throw herself flat upon the divan.
+
+"It's all right," said the Major, answering Uncle John's startled
+look; "the cry will do her good. I've half a mind to join her myself."
+
+But he didn't. He followed Uncle John into the tatter's room and
+smoked one of the newly-discovered cigars while the elder man lay back
+in an easy chair and silently puffed his pipe.
+
+By and bye Patsy joined them, no longer crying but radiant with glee.
+
+"Tell me, Daddy," said she, perching on the arm of the Major's chair,
+"who gave me all this, do you think?"
+
+"Not me," answered the Major, positively. "I couldn't do it on twelve
+a week, anyhow at all."
+
+"And you robbed me of all my money when I came to town," said Uncle
+John.
+
+"Stop joking," said the girl. "There's no doubt this place is intended
+for us, is there?"
+
+"None at all," declared the Major. "It's ours for three years, and not
+a penny to pay."
+
+"Well, then, do you think it's Kenneth?"
+
+The Major shook his head.
+
+"I don't know the lad." he said, "and he might be equal to it,
+although I doubt it. But he can't touch his money till he comes
+of age, and it isn't likely his lawyer guardian would allow such
+extravagances."
+
+"Then who can it be?"
+
+"I can't imagine."
+
+"It doesn't seem to matter," remarked Uncle John, lighting a fresh
+pipe. "You're not supposed to ask questions, I take it, but to enjoy
+your new home as much as you can."
+
+"Ex--actly!" agreed the Major.
+
+"I've been thinking," continued Uncle John, "that I'm not exactly fit
+for all this style, Patsy. I'll have to get a new suit of clothes to
+match my new quarters. Will you give me back ten dollars of that money
+to buy 'em with?"
+
+"I suppose I'll have to," she answered, thoughtfully.
+
+"We'll have to go back to Becker's flats to pack up our traps," said
+the Major, "so we might as well go now."
+
+"I hate to leave here for a single moment," replied the girl.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I'm afraid it will all disappear again."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Uncle John. "For my part, I haven't any traps, so
+I'll stay here and guard the treasure till you return."
+
+"Dinner is served, Miss Patricia," said the small maid, appearing in
+the doorway.
+
+"Then let's dine!" cried Patsy, clapping her hands gleefully; "and
+afterward the Major and I will make our last visit to Becker's flats."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+LOUISE MAKES A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Uncle John did not stay to guard the treasure, after all, for he knew
+very well it would not disappear.
+
+As soon as Patsy and the Major had departed for Becker's flats, he
+took his own hat from the rack and walked away to hunt up another
+niece, Miss Louise Merrick, whose address he had casually obtained
+from Patsy a day or two before.
+
+It was near by, and he soon found the place--a pretty flat in a
+fashionable building, although not so exclusive a residence district
+as Willing Square.
+
+Up three flights he rode in the elevator, and then rang softly at the
+door which here the card of Mrs. Merrick.
+
+A maid opened it and looked at him enquiringly.
+
+"Are the ladies in?" he asked.
+
+"I'll see. Your card, sir?"
+
+"I haven't any."
+
+She half closed the door.
+
+"Any name, then?"
+
+"Yes, John Merrick."
+
+She closed the door entirely, and was gone several minutes. Then she
+came back and ushered him through the parlor into a small rear room.
+
+Mrs. Merrick arose from her chair by the window and advanced to meet
+him.
+
+"You are John Merrick?" she enquired.
+
+"Your husband's brother, ma'am," he replied.
+
+"How do you do, Uncle John?" called Louise, from the sofa. "Excuse my
+getting up, won't you? And where in the world have you come from?"
+
+Mrs. Merrick sat down again.
+
+"Won't you take a chair?" she said, stiffly.
+
+"I believe I will," returned Uncle John. "I just came to make a call,
+you know."
+
+"Louise has told me of you," said the lady. "It was very unfortunate
+that your sister's death deprived you of a home. An absurd thing,
+altogether, that fiasco of Jane Merrick's."
+
+"True," he agreed.
+
+"But I might have expected it, knowing the woman's character as I
+did."
+
+Uncle John wondered what Jane's character had to do with the finding
+of Tom Bradley's last will; but he said nothing.
+
+"Where are you living?" asked Louise.
+
+"Not anywhere, exactly," he answered, "although Patsy has offered me
+a home and I've been sleeping on a sofa in her living-room, the past
+week."
+
+"I advise you to stay with the Doyles," said Mrs. Merrick, quickly.
+"We haven't even a sofa to offer you here, our flat is so small;
+otherwise we would be glad to be of some help to you. Have you found
+work?"
+
+"I haven't tried to, yet, ma'am."
+
+"It will be hard to get, at your age, of course. But that is a matter
+in which we cannot assist you."
+
+"Oh, I'm not looking for help, ma'am."
+
+She glanced at his worn clothing and soiled white necktie, and smiled.
+
+"But we want to do something for you," said Louise. "Now," sitting up
+and regarding him gravely, "I'm going to tell you a state secret. We
+are living, in this luxurious way, on the principal of my father's
+life insurance. At our present rate of expenditure we figure that the
+money will last us two years and nine months longer. By that time I
+shall be comfortably married or we will go bankrupt--as the fates
+decide. Do you understand the situation?"
+
+"Perfectly. It's very simple," said the old man.
+
+"And rather uncertain, isn't it? But in spite of this, we are better
+able to help you than any of your other relatives. The Doyles are
+hard-working folks, and very poor. Beth says that Professor De Graf is
+over head and ears in debt and earns less every year, so he can't be
+counted upon. In all the Merrick tribe the only tangible thing is my
+father's life insurance, which I believe you once helped him to pay a
+premium on."
+
+"I'd forgotten that," said Uncle John.
+
+"Well, we haven't. We don't want to appear ungenerous in your eyes.
+Some day we may need help ourselves. But just now we can't offer you a
+home, and, as mother says, you'd better stay with the Doyles. We have
+talked of making you a small allowance; but that may not be necessary.
+When you need assistance you must come to us, and we'll do whatever we
+can, as long as our money lasts. Won't that be the better way?"
+
+Uncle John was silent for a moment. Then he asked:
+
+"Why have you thought it necessary to assist me?"
+
+Louise seemed surprised.
+
+"You are old and seemed to be without means," she answered, "and that
+five thousand Aunt Jane left to you turned out to be a myth. But tell
+me, have you money, Uncle John?"
+
+"Enough for my present needs," he said, smiling.
+
+Mrs. Merrick seemed greatly relieved.
+
+"Then there is no need of our trying to be generous," she said, "and I
+am glad of that on all accounts."
+
+"I just called for a little visit," said Uncle John. "It seemed
+unfriendly not to hunt you up, when I was in town."
+
+"I'm glad you did," replied Mrs. Merrick, glancing at the clock. "But
+Louise expects a young gentleman to call upon her in a few minutes,
+and perhaps you can drop in again; another Sunday, for instance."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Uncle John, rising with a red face. "I'll see."
+
+"Good bye, Uncle," exclaimed Louise, rising to take his hand. "Don't
+feel that we've hurried you away, but come in again, whenever you feel
+like it."
+
+"Thank you, my dear," he said, and went away.
+
+Louise approached the open window, that led to a broad balcony. The
+people in the next flat--young Mr. Isham, the son of the great
+banker, and his wife--were sitting on the balcony, overlooking the
+street, but Louise decided to glance over the rail to discover if the
+young gentleman she so eagerly awaited chanced to be in sight.
+
+As she did so Mr. Isham cried in great excitement:
+
+"There he is, Myra--that's him!" and pointed toward the sidewalk.
+
+"Whom?" enquired Mrs. Isham, calmly.
+
+"Why John Merrick! John Merrick, of Portland, Oregon."
+
+"And who is John Merrick?" asked the lady.
+
+"One of the richest men in the world, and the best client our house
+has. Isn't he a queer looking fellow? And dresses like a tramp. But
+he's worth from eighty to ninety millions, at least, and controls most
+of the canning and tin-plate industries of America. I wonder what
+brought him into this neighborhood?"
+
+Louise drew back from the window, pale and trembling. Then she caught
+up a shawl and rushed from the room. Uncle John must be overtaken and
+brought back, at all hazards.
+
+The elevator was coming down, fortunately, and she descended quickly
+and reached the street, where she peered eagerly up and down for the
+round, plump figure of the little millionaire. But by some strange
+chance he had already turned a corner and disappeared.
+
+While she hesitated the young man came briskly up, swinging his cane.
+
+"Why, Miss Louise," he said in some surprise, "were you, by good
+chance, waiting for me?"
+
+"No, indeed," she answered, with a laugh; "I've been saying good-bye
+to my rich uncle, John Merrick, of Portland, who has just called."
+
+"John Merrick, the tin-plate magnate? Is he your uncle?"
+
+"My father's own brother," she answered, gaily. "Come upstairs,
+please. Mother will be glad to see you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+PATSY LOSES HER JOB.
+
+
+Uncle John reached Willing Square before Patsy and her father
+returned, but soon afterward they arrived in an antiquated carriage
+surrounded by innumerable bundles.
+
+"The driver's a friend of mine," explained the Major, "and he moved us
+for fifty cents, which is less than half price. We didn't bring a bit
+of the furniture or beds, for there's no place here to put them; but
+as the rent at Becker's flat is paid to the first of next month, we'll
+have plenty of time to auction 'em all off."
+
+The rest of the day was spent most delightfully in establishing
+themselves in the new home. It didn't take the girl long to put her
+few belongings into the closets and drawers, but there were a thousand
+little things to examine in the rooms and she made some important
+discovery at every turn.
+
+"Daddy," she said, impressively, "it must have cost a big fortune to
+furnish these little rooms. They're full of very expensive things, and
+none of the grand houses Madam Borne has sent me to is any finer than
+ours. I'm sure the place is too good for us, who are working people.
+Do you think we ought to stay here?"
+
+"The Doyles," answered the Major, very seriously, "are one of the
+greatest and most aristocratic families in all Ireland, which is the
+most aristocratic country in the world. If I only had our pedigree I
+could prove it to you easily. There's nothing too good for an Irish
+gentleman, even if he condescends to bookkeeping to supply the
+immediate necessities of life; and as you're me own daughter,
+Patricia, though a Merrick on your poor sainted mother's side, you're
+entitled to all you can get honestly. Am I right, Uncle John, or do I
+flatter myself?"
+
+Uncle John stroked the girl's head softly.
+
+"You are quite right," he said. "There is nothing too good for a
+brave, honest girl who's heart is in the right place."
+
+"And that's Patsy," declared the Major, as if the question were
+finally settled.
+
+On Monday morning Mary had a dainty breakfast all ready for them at
+seven o'clock, and Patsy and her father departed with light hearts for
+their work. Uncle John rode part way down town with them.
+
+"I'm going to buy my new suit, today, and a new necktie," he said.
+
+"Don't let them rob you," was Patsy's parting injunction. "Is your
+money all safe? And if you buy a ten dollar suit of clothes the dealer
+ought to throw in the necktie to bind the bargain. And see that
+they're all wool, Uncle John."
+
+"What, the neckties?"
+
+"No, the clothes. Good-bye, and don't be late to dinner. Mary might
+scold."
+
+"I'll remember. Good-bye, my dear."
+
+Patsy was almost singing for joy when she walked into Madam Borne's
+hair-dressing establishment.
+
+"Don't take off your things," said the Madam, sharply, "Your services
+are no longer required."
+
+Patsy looked at her in amazement. Doubtless she hadn't heard aright.
+
+"I have another girl in your place," continued Madam Borne, "so I'll
+bid you good morning."
+
+Patsy's heart was beating fast.
+
+"Do you mean I'm discharged?" she asked, with a catch in her voice.
+
+"That's it precisely."
+
+"Have I done anything wrong, Madam?"
+
+"It isn't that," said Madam, pettishly. "I simply do not require your
+services. You are paid up to Saturday night, and I owe you nothing.
+Now, run along."
+
+Patsy stood looking at her and wondering what to do. To lose this
+place was certainly a great calamity.
+
+"You'll give me a testimonial, won't you, Madam?" she asked,
+falteringly.
+
+"I don't give testimonials," was the reply.
+
+"Do run away, child; I'm very busy this morning."
+
+Patsy went away, all her happiness turned to bitter grief. What would
+the Major say, and what were they to do without her wages? Then she
+remembered Willing Square, and was a little comforted. Money was not
+as necessary now as it had been before.
+
+Nevertheless, she applied to one or two hair-dressers for employment,
+and met with abrupt refusals. They had all the help they needed. So
+she decided to go back home and think it over, before taking further
+action.
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock when she fitted her pass-key into the carved
+door of Apartment D, and when she entered the pretty living-room she
+found an elderly lady seated there, who arose to greet her.
+
+"Miss Doyle?" enquired the lady.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Patsy.
+
+"I am Mrs. Wilson, and I have been engaged to give you private
+instruction from ten to twelve every morning."
+
+Patsy plumped down upon a chair and looked her amazement.
+
+"May I ask who engaged you?" she ventured to enquire.
+
+"A gentleman from the bank of Isham, Marvin & Co. made the
+arrangement. May I take off my things?"
+
+"If you please," said the girl, quietly. Evidently this explained why
+Madam Borne had discharged her so heartlessly. The gentleman from
+Isham, Marvin & Co. had doubtless interviewed the Madam and told her
+what to do. And then, knowing she would be at liberty, he had sent her
+this private instructor.
+
+The girl felt that the conduct of her life had been taken out of her
+own hands entirely, and that she was now being guided and cared for by
+her unknown friend and benefactor. And although she was inclined to
+resent the loss of her independence, at first, her judgment told her
+it would not only be wise but to her great advantage to submit.
+
+She found Mrs. Wilson a charming and cultivated lady, who proved so
+gracious and kindly that the girl felt quite at ease in her presence.
+She soon discovered how woefully ignorant Patsy was, and arranged a
+course of instruction that would be of most benefit to her.
+
+"I have been asked to prepare you to enter a girls' college," she
+said, "and if you are attentive and studious I shall easily accomplish
+the task."
+
+Patsy invited her to stay to luncheon, which Mary served in the cosy
+dining-room, and then Mrs. Wilson departed and left her alone to think
+over this new example of her unknown friend's thoughtful care.
+
+At three o'clock the door-bell rang and Mary ushered in another
+strange person--a pretty, fair-haired young lady, this time, who said
+she was to give Miss Doyle lessons on the piano.
+
+Patsy was delighted. It was the one accomplishment she most longed to
+acquire, and she entered into the first lesson with an eagerness that
+made her teacher smile approvingly.
+
+Meantime the Major was having his own surprises. At the office the
+manager met him on his arrival and called him into his private room.
+
+"Major Doyle," said he, "it is with great regret that we part with
+you, for you have served our house most faithfully."
+
+The Major was nonplussed.
+
+"But," continued the manager, "our bankers, Messers. Isham, Marvin
+& Co., have asked us to spare you for them, as they have a place
+requiring a man of your abilities where you can do much better than
+with us. Take this card, sir, and step over to the bankers and enquire
+for Mr. Marvin. I congratulate you, Major Doyle, on your advancement,
+which I admit is fully deserved."
+
+The Major seemed dazed. Like a man walking in a dream he made his way
+to the great banking house, and sent in the card to Mr. Marvin.
+
+That gentleman greeted him most cordially.
+
+"We want you to act as special auditor of accounts," said he. "It is a
+place of much responsibility, but your duties will not be arduous. You
+will occupy Private Office No. 11, and your hours are only from 10
+to 12 each morning. After that you will be at liberty. The salary,
+I regret to say, is not commensurate with your value, being merely
+twenty-four hundred a year; but as you will have part of the day to
+yourself you will doubtless be able to supplement that sum in other
+ways. Is this satisfactory, sir?"
+
+"Quite so," answered the Major. Twenty-four hundred a year! And only
+two hours' work! Quite satisfactory, indeed!
+
+His little office was very cosy, too; and the work of auditing the
+accounts of the most important customers of the house required
+accuracy but no amount of labor. It was an ideal occupation for a man
+of his years and limited training.
+
+He stayed in the office until two o'clock that day, in order to get
+fully acquainted with the details of his work. Then he closed his
+desk, went to luncheon, which he enjoyed amazingly, and then decided
+to return to Willing Square and await Patsy's return from Madam
+Borne's.
+
+As he let himself in he heard an awkward drumming and strumming on the
+piano, and peering slyly through the opening in the portierre he was
+startled to find Patsy herself making the dreadful noise, while a
+pretty girl sat beside her directing the movements of her fingers.
+
+The Major watched for several minutes, in silent but amazed
+exultation; then he tiptoed softly to his room to smoke a cigar and
+wait until his daughter was at liberty to hear his great news and
+explain her own adventures.
+
+When Uncle John came home to dinner he found father and daughter
+seated happily together in a loving embrace, their faces wreathed with
+ecstatic smiles that were wonderful to behold.
+
+Uncle John was radiant in a brand new pepper-and-salt suit of clothes
+that fitted his little round form perfectly. Patsy marvelled that he
+could get such a handsome outfit for the money, for Uncle John had on
+new linen and a new hat and even a red-bordered handkerchief for the
+coat pocket--besides the necktie, and the necktie was of fine silk and
+in the latest fashion.
+
+The transformation was complete, and Uncle John had suddenly become an
+eminently respectable old gentleman, with very little to criticise in
+his appearance.
+
+"Do I match the flat, now?" he asked.
+
+"To a dot!" declared Patsy. "So come to dinner, for it's ready and
+waiting, and the Major and I have some wonderful fairy tales to tell
+you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE MAJOR DEMANDS AN EXPLANATION.
+
+
+That was a happy week, indeed. Patsy devoted all her spare time to her
+lessons, but the house itself demanded no little attention. She would
+not let Mary dust the ornaments or arrange the rooms at all, but
+lovingly performed those duties herself, and soon became an ideal
+housekeeper, as Uncle John approvingly remarked.
+
+And as she flitted from room to room she sang such merry songs that it
+was a delight to hear her, and the Major was sure to get home from the
+city in time to listen to the strumming of the piano at three o'clock,
+from the recess of his own snug chamber.
+
+Uncle John went to the city every morning, and at first this
+occasioned no remark. Patsy was too occupied to pay much attention to
+her uncle's coming and going, and the Major was indifferent, being
+busy admiring Patsy's happiness and congratulating himself on his own
+good fortune.
+
+The position at the bank had raised the good man's importance several
+notches. The clerks treated him with fine consideration and the heads
+of the firm were cordial and most pleasant. His fine, soldierly figure
+and kindly, white-moustached face, conferred a certain dignity upon
+his employers, which they seemed to respect and appreciate.
+
+It was on Wednesday that the Major encountered the name of John
+Merrick on the books. The account was an enormous one, running into
+millions in stocks and securities. The Major smiled.
+
+"That's Uncle John's name," he reflected. "It would please him to know
+he had a namesake so rich as this one."
+
+The next day he noted that John Merrick's holdings were mostly in
+western canning industries and tin-plate factories, and again he
+recollected that Uncle John had once been a tinsmith. The connection
+was rather curious.
+
+But it was not until Saturday morning that the truth dawned upon him,
+and struck him like a blow from a sledge-hammer.
+
+He had occasion to visit Mr. Marvin's private office, but being told
+that the gentleman was engaged with an important customer, he lingered
+outside the door, waiting.
+
+Presently the door was partly opened.
+
+"Don't forget to sell two thousand of the Continental stock tomorrow,"
+he heard a familiar voice say.
+
+"I'll not forget, Mr. Merrick," answered the banker.
+
+"And buy that property on Bleeker street at the price offered. It's a
+fair proposition, and I need the land."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Merrick. Would it not be better for me to send these
+papers by a messenger to your house?"
+
+"No; I'll take them myself. No one will rob me." And then the door
+swung open and, chuckling in his usual whimsical fashion, Uncle John
+came out, wearing his salt-and-pepper suit and stuffing; a bundle of
+papers into his inside pocket.
+
+The Major stared at him haughtily, but made no attempt to openly
+recognize the man. Uncle John gave a start, laughed, and then walked
+away briskly, throwing a hasty "good-bye" to the obsequious banker,
+who followed him out, bowing low.
+
+The Major returned to his office with a grave face, and sat for the
+best part of three hours in a brown study. Then he took his hat and
+went home.
+
+Patsy asked anxiously if anything had happened, when she saw his face;
+but the Major shook his head.
+
+Uncle John arrived just in time for dinner, in a very genial mood,
+and he and Patsy kept up a lively conversation at the table while the
+Major looked stern every time he caught the little man's eye.
+
+But Uncle John never minded. He was not even as meek and humble as
+usual, but laughed and chatted with the freedom of a boy just out of
+school, which made Patsy think the new clothes had improved him in
+more ways than one.
+
+When dinner was over the Major led them into the sitting-room, turned
+up the lights, and then confronted the little man with a determined
+and majestic air.
+
+"Sir," said he, "give an account of yourself."
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"John Merrick, millionaire and impostor, who came into my family under
+false pretenses and won our love and friendship when we didn't know
+it, give an account of yourself!"
+
+Patsy laughed.
+
+"What are you up to, Daddy?" she demanded. "What has Uncle John been
+doing?"
+
+"Deceiving us, my dear."
+
+"Nonsense," said Uncle John, lighting his old briar pipe, "you've been
+deceiving yourselves."
+
+"Didn't you convey the impression that you were poor?" demanded the
+Major, sternly.
+
+"No."
+
+"Didn't you let Patsy take away your thirty-two dollars and forty-two
+cents, thinking it was all you had?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Aren't you worth millions and millions of dollars--so many that you
+can't count them yourself?"
+
+"Perhaps."
+
+"Then, sir," concluded the Major, mopping the perspiration from his
+forehead and sitting down limply in his chair, "what do you mean by
+it?"
+
+Patsy stood pale and trembling, her round eyes fixed upon her uncle's
+composed face.
+
+"Uncle John!" she faltered.
+
+"Yes, my dear."
+
+"Is it all true? Are you so very rich?"
+
+"Yes, my dear."
+
+"And it's you that gave me this house, and--and everything else--and
+got the Major his fine job, and me discharged, and--and--"
+
+"Of course, Patsy. Why not?"
+
+"Oh, Uncle John!"
+
+She threw herself into his arms, sobbing happily as he clasped her
+little form to his bosom. And the Major coughed and blew his nose, and
+muttered unintelligible words into his handkerchief. Then Patsy sprang
+up and rushed upon her father, crying;
+
+"Oh, Daddy! Aren't you glad it's Uncle John?"
+
+"I have still to hear his explanation," said the Major.
+
+Uncle John beamed upon them. Perhaps he had never been so happy before
+in all his life.
+
+"I'm willing to explain," he said, lighting his pipe again and
+settling himself in his chair. "But my story is a simple one, dear
+friends, and not nearly so wonderful as you may imagine. My father had
+a big family that kept him poor, and I was a tinsmith with little work
+to be had in the village where we lived. So I started west, working my
+way from town to town, until I got to Portland, Oregon.
+
+"There was work in plenty there, making the tin cans in which salmon
+and other fish is packed, and as I was industrious I soon had a shop
+of my own, and supplied cans to the packers. The shop grew to be
+a great factory, employing hundreds of men. Then I bought up the
+factories of my competitors, so as to control the market, and as I
+used so much tin-plate I became interested in the manufacture of this
+product, and invested a good deal of money in the production and
+perfection of American tin. My factories were now scattered all along
+the coast, even to California, where I made the cans for the great
+quantities of canned fruits they ship from that section every year.
+Of course the business made me rich, and I bought real estate with my
+extra money, and doubled my fortune again and again.
+
+"I never married, for all my heart was in the business, and I thought
+of nothing else. But a while ago a big consolidation of the canning
+industries was effected, and the active management I resigned to other
+hands, because I had grown old, and had too much money already.
+
+"It was then that I remembered the family, and went back quietly to
+the village where I was born. They were all dead or scattered,
+I found; but because Jane had inherited a fortune in some way I
+discovered where she lived and went to see her. I suppose it was
+because my clothes were old and shabby that Jane concluded I was a
+poor man and needed assistance; and I didn't take the trouble to
+undeceive her.
+
+"I also found my three nieces at Elmhurst, and it struck me it would
+be a good time to study their characters; for like Jane I had a
+fortune to leave behind me, and I was curious to find out which girl
+was the most deserving. No one suspected my disguise. I don't usually
+wear such poor clothes, you know; but I have grown to be careless of
+dress in the west, and finding that I was supposed to be a poor man I
+clung to that old suit like grim death to a grasshopper."
+
+"It was very wicked of you," said Patsy, soberly, from her father's
+lap.
+
+"As it turned out," continued the little man, "Jane's desire to leave
+her money to her nieces amounted to nothing, for the money wasn't
+hers. But I must say it was kind of her to put me down for five
+thousand dollars--now, wasn't it?"
+
+The Major grinned.
+
+"And that's the whole story, my friends. After Jane's death you
+offered me a home--the best you had to give--and I accepted it. I had
+to come to New York anyway, you know, for Isham, Marvin & Co. have
+been my bankers for years, and there was considerable business to
+transact with them. I think that's all, isn't it?"
+
+"Then this house is yours?" said Patsy, wonderingly.
+
+"No, my dear; the whole block belongs to you and here's the deed for
+it," drawing a package of papers from his pocket. "It's a very good
+property, Patsy, and the rents you get from the other five flats will
+be a fortune in themselves."
+
+For a time the three sat in silence. Then the girl whispered, softly:
+
+"Why are you so good to me, Uncle John?"
+
+"Just because I like you, Patsy, and you are my niece."
+
+"And the other nieces?"
+
+"Well, I don't mean they shall wait for my death to be made happy,"
+answered Uncle John. "Here's a paper that gives to Louise's mother the
+use of a hundred thousand dollars, as long as she lives. After that
+Louise will have the money to do as she pleases with."
+
+"How fine!" cried Patsy, clapping her hands joyfully.
+
+"And here's another paper that gives Professor De Graf the use of
+another hundred thousand. Beth is to have it when he dies. She's a
+sensible girl, and will take good care of it."
+
+"Indeed she will!" said Patsy.
+
+"And now," said Uncle John, "I want to know if I can keep my little
+room in your apartments, Patsy; or if you'd prefer me to find another
+boarding place."
+
+"Your home is here as long as you live, Uncle John. I never meant to
+part with you, when I thought you poor, and I'll not desert you now
+that I know you're rich."
+
+"Well said, Patsy!" cried the Major.
+
+And Uncle John smiled and kissed the girl and then lighted his pipe
+again, for it had gone out.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10123 ***