Aunt Jane's Nieces
"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.
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There was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence over the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as the wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon, to whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not like any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that if any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and who found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father and mother should be killed.
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