Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work
I've got three signs let on my property in the glen. Ef ye'll jest ride
up t' the house I'll giv' ye the feller's name."
"All right. Come along," said Kenneth, with sudden resolve.
The farmer rode a time in silent thought. He could not go fast, for the
beast was very lame. Finally he remarked:
"Ef ye buy up the sign painters, so's ye can wash off the letters, like
enough ye'll hev to pay him fer th' paint an' paintin', too."
"I don't mind," was the response.
The farmer chuckled. Here was an interesting adventure, for a fact. What
on earth could possess the "young 'un" from Elmhurst to object to signs,
and be willing to pay for having them erased?
"Like enough ye'll hev to pay back the money the soap an' medicine men
guv th' painter, too," he hazarded.
"Like enough," said Kenneth, grimly.
One of his stubborn moods had seized him. At all hazards he was resolved
to eliminate those ugly signs.
He got the name of the sign painter, accepted a glass of buttermilk at
the farm house, and then rode slowly home by another route, so that he
might not have to face the signs again.
But on this route he saw even more. They were painted on the fences and
barns as he passed along. He scowled at each one, but they did not
appear to him quite so inharmonious as those which marred the more
picturesque and retired spots which were his favorite haunts.
CHAPTER III
DON QUIXOTE
When Kenneth got home he told Mr. Watson of his discovery and asked the
old gentleman to write to the sign painter and find out what could be
done. The lawyer laughed heartily at his young friend's whim, but agreed
to help him.
"If you are going to try to prevent rural advertising," he remarked,
"you'll find your hands full."
Kenneth looked up smiling.
"Thank you," he said.
"For what?"
"For finding me something to do. I'm sick of this inaction."
Again the lawyer laughed.
"What is your idea?" he asked.
"To remove such eyesores as advertising signs from the neighborhood of
Elmhurst."
"It's a Titan's task, Ken.
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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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