Aunt Jane's Nieces
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.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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