Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
Old Hucks came slowly down the steps to greet the company. Never in his
memory had his dress been so immaculate. The queer old fellow seemed to
appreciate this as he raised his smiling face from the stooped shoulders
and poised it on one side like a sparrow.
"Welcome home, sir," he said to Uncle John. "I'm Hucks, sir; Thomas
Hucks," and without more words he proceeded to remove the satchels from
the wagon.
"Ah, yes," returned Mr. Merrick, cheered by the welcome and the smile of
the old man. "I'd forgotten about you, but I'm glad you're here."
"And that is my wife Nora, on the porch. She's the housekeeper, sir."
And then, lowering his voice so that only the girls and Uncle John could
hear, he added simply: "She's blind."
Patsy walked straight up to the eager, pathetic figure of the woman and
took her hand in a warm clasp.
"I'm Patricia, Nora," she said, "and I'm sure we shall be friends."
Beth followed her cousin's lead.
"And I am Beth, Nora. Will you remember me?"
"Surely, miss; by your voice," returned the old woman, beaming
delightedly at these evidences of kindliness.
"Here is another, Nora," said their cousin, in gentle tones. "I am
Louise."
"Three young and pretty girls, Nora; and as good as they are pretty,"
announced Uncle John, proudly. "Will you show us in, Thomas, or will
your wife?"
"Nora will take the young ladies to their rooms, sir."
"Not now, Uncle!" they all protested, in nearly identical words; and
Louise added: "Let us drink in the delights of this pretty picture
before we shut ourselves up in the stuffy rooms. I hope they've
been aired."
Patsy ran to a chicken-coop on the side lawn, where a fussy hen was
calling to her children that strangers had arrived. Beth exclaimed at
the honeysuckle vines and Louise sank into a rustic chair with a sigh
of content.
"I'm so glad you brought us here. Uncle," she said. "What a surprise it
is to find the place so pretty!"
They could hear the rush of the Little Bill in the wood behind them and
a soft breeze stirred the pines and wafted their fragrance to the
nostrils of the new arrivals.
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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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