Aunt Jane's Nieces
" 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.
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There was once an honest journeyman tailor, by name Labakan, who learned his trade with an excellent master in Alexandria. It could not be said that Labakan was unhandy with the needle; on the contrary, he could make excellent work: moreover, one would have done him injustice to have called him lazy. Nevertheless, his companions knew not what to make of him, for he would often sew for hours together so rapidly that the needle would glow in his hand, and the thread smoke, and that none could equal him.
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