Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West
"
"Then what is his object?" asked Maud.
"I can't figure it out, as yet. He might pose as a millionaire and a
generous friend and philanthropist for some time, before the truth was
discovered, and during that time he could carry out any secret plans he
had in mind. The boy is more shrewd than he appears to be. We, by chance
saved his life, and at once he attached himself to us like a barnacle,
and we can't shake him off."
"We don't want to," said Patsy.
"My explanation is that he has fallen in love with one of us
girls," suggested Flo, with a mischievous glance at her sister. "I
wonder if it's me?"
"It is more likely," said Louise, "that he has discovered Uncle John to
be a very--prosperous--man."
"Nonsense, my dear!" exclaimed that gentleman, evidently irritated by the
insinuation. "Don't pick the boy to pieces. Give him a chance. So far he
has asked nothing from us, but offers everything. He's a grateful fellow
and is anxious to help you girls carry out your ambitious plans. That is
how I read him, and I think it is absurd to prejudge him in the way you
are doing."
The party broke up, the Stantons and Weldons going to their rooms. Beth
also rose.
"Are you coming to bed, Patsy?" she inquired.
"Not just now," her cousin replied. "Between us, we've rubbed Uncle
John's fur the wrong way and he won't get composed until he has
smoked his good-night cigar. I'll sit with him in this corner and
keep him company."
So the little man and his favorite niece were left together, and he did
not seem in the least ruffled as he lit his cigar and settled down in a
big chair, with Patsy beside him, to enjoy it.
CHAPTER XIV
ISIDORE LE DRIEUX
Perhaps the cigar was half gone when Patsy gave a sudden start and
squeezed Uncle John's hand, which she had been holding in both her own.
"What is it, my dear?"
"The man I told you of. There he is, just across the lobby. The man with
the gray clothes and gray hair."
"Oh, yes; the one lighting a cigar."
"Precisely."
Uncle John gazed across the lobby reflectively.
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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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