| Show SM gs sec s ec ass s s ass es CHAPTER II 11 ha d who was fond of qua nt characters found himself smiling did you my brother in lawa he aske s a ay of drawing out his interlocutor oh every one knew the pro lessor was the answer with a j d cial deliberation he was a ane aban abe professor was a trifle flighty in his notions according to my lights and not always knowing as to side his bread was buttered but a real gentleman and taking points from no one in his busl ness too though he did plank out a good many dollars in them patents of his that never showed him no profit and that would ha come in handy row I 1 reckon tor them that s left a fine girl of his she favors her father too going to stop longa the driver as he asked this q ies lion drew up before a medium sized house of old fashioned pattern gabled and of weather beaten shingle color with a vegetable garden on one side only a few hours probably Is this the place where he lived sir ever bince he come here said the man muffling his speech again by way of respect to the departed harold stagg passed through the little gate and strode with a bus aass like step to the door on wh ch ie sounded vigorously with the knocker that took the place of a bell after a moment it was opened by a small boy who looked at him doubt fully as though he suspected who the visitor m be but did not dare to make the first advances take it you must be harold stagg baldwin said the owner of the first iwo thirds of the name yes sir said the lad with a glad sheepish smile well I 1 m your uncle harold he said patting him on the head I 1 suppose your sister got my tele grama yes sir she s expecting you whereupon his namesake seized the handle of the valise by way ol 01 wincing hospitality and hiding em at the same alme and began pulling it into the entry As harold stagg followed him a larger boy and a tall sl m young woman advanced from the threshold of an adjoining room ah my dears he said grasping silas by the hand and embracing his niece im glad to be with you will you walk in uncle said elea nor ushering him into the room from which she had come it was a cosy little apartment Us furniture turn iture and stuffs though slightly avorn and slightly old fashioned were tasteful I 1 suppose you are ready for breakfast she added it will be ready in a moment yes I 1 am a little hungry harold spoke cheerfully an atmos sphere of grief was instinctively op to him moreover he felt that he ought to try to enliven the family poor little girl how pale and sad she looked with cark places under her eyes that told of heart ache and loss of sleep she was pretty to d pretty with a delicate pensive style of face that matched well her willowy figure but she appeared far from strong he wondered aon dered what emma would think of her there was not a trace of em barras in her manner as she did the hospitalities of the breakfast room offering him his choice of tea or coffee and providing for his other needs with a serious composure that as astonishing to him from its lack of consciousness and yet was in no respect girlish he could scarcely be until he convinced himself by inquiry that she was but eighteen parly contact with the ties of life had developed her in tain ways beyond her years and yet jett her a child in many respects how would she and emma get ona what would emma think of hera I 1 have come out here you know to take you all back with me to new york said harold presently getting to the point at once as was his wont it is your aunts wah and mine be added breaking the silence that followed his announcement two boys looked at their sister in a doubtful bewildered sort of way she was evidently thinking that would be very pleasant uncle and it Is very kind of you to suggest it but as we have to support ourselves wouldn t it be wiser tor us to begin here at once where we are she said in her calm dispassionate tone you see papa left very little property nothing ex capt his patents and this house which la mortgaged for half what it ie worth so that we have no to live on papa talked it all over with me as well as he could the lay before he died he said he had ben meaning to insure his life dur ing the last year but he haan hadn t the ready money to pay the premiums I 1 told him that he austn t mind having spent his savings in developing his he had believed in them and it was his duty for our sakes as w II 11 as his own to try to make them successful we should be sure to get on somehow and probably some day the patents boudi prove very able it was plain that she wished others to believe as she did impurity that her father had acted tor the best in everything doubtless some one had already made disparaging comments as to the cause of their poverty I 1 don t think you understand me eleanor I 1 wish you all three to live with me I 1 have plenty of money tor you all silas and harold will be sent fu school and you will be brought up at home by your aunt as other young ladles are A look of surprise irradiated by a gleam of pleasure came over her face which was succeeded ded by her grave anxious expression I 1 bad been thinking she said of being a teacher it I 1 can get a place in the town here and the boys could attend the public school six months in the year and do in the sum months tor the farmers until they were old enough to go to col lege nonsense eleanor exclaimed harold stagg as she pared in her recital I 1 wont hear of such a thing you forget I 1 m your uncle bour mother was my sister and I 1 in tend to provide tor her children it would be very nice she said reflectively if ane boys could be looked after until they 1 ad a good du cation b it I 1 ve qu te set my heart on being a teacher and I 1 ve tho ight t all over and planned it out so that I 1 m sure there wouldn t be any brou trou ble as to my gett ng along I 1 won t hear of it what you need my dear is less ing and plan ning and mo e beef me and iron to p it color into tf oae pale cheeks of yours do yo i s appose you could arrange to start da after to marrowl I 1 can have your fati er s books and si ch other things as you don t wish to have sold stored or slipped to ou in new york he added day after tomorrow 7 she ajac i cited in a tone of trouble yes I 1 am a busy man myself and of course I 1 m anxious to get bad as soon as possible it would be very nice tor the I 1 she reiterated and it s very very 1 ind ot you uncle harold that means aull start day after n morrow morning would you like to go to new lork to live silas and hala she in quiren with motherly sol we won t go unless you go elea i or said the elder stoutly right said harold stags she has to go eleanor s eyes filled with tears I 1 suppose I 1 ought she said after a moment you austn t think me ungrateful unc e or that I 1 don t apa preci ate how good and generous ou are but it s hard to leave the house and the place where I 1 ve lived so long bhe wept softly for a few moments then wiped her eyes and aid with quiet decision we shall be ready to start uncle day after to morrow that 11 do nicely dear replied aarold who had been inwardly de bating bow to deal with so liar a factor as a young girl s tears ie evgraph your aunt emma that ou re oming the journey was uneventful but interesting to the bos who 1 bickly rega ned their sp ants and be came tal kathe under the influence of novel surroundings eleanor sat pensive and un and lading appetite thereby puzzling her uncle who could better have understood torrents of tears than th s dry ed moping man ner of grief he found that she liked to talk about her father corn panion and confidante she seemed to laie been and toward the end of the bourney they branched off on one oc casion on bool s each the her by discovering that their tastes in poetry were not dissia lar harold d d not pretend to read ever thing bat was going but he knew the names of the prominent and it was evident that eleanor was familiar fi with most of them all sae needed he reflected was a little knowledge of the way of the world and a few suggestions as to her attire in order to mal e him a proud uncle for wh ie 0 o many of the young women in society were mere butterflies r dolls did not she possess in add tion to a prett face the charms of intellectual cultures 7 emma would understand exactly how to transform this inconspicuous cygnet into a daz ling swan here we are said ha old stagg a the carriage stopped becore a nn e residence A flood of light from the doorway dazzled blear or s eyes and she won dered at the flawless individual who s their passage into the hall until her uncle said parsons has mrs stagg gone to oeda no sir she is awaiting you in the drawing room answered the but lor she was about to retire sir when your telegraphic message ar lived he added in a lower tone in tended tor his masters ear supper is quite sir well we re ready for it aren t we boysa twenty minutes of twelve mercy on us he exclaimed as he dosed his watch with a snap I 1 dare say you were never up so late before now dear if you ve finished prink aig he sa d gaily to eleanor take you in and introduce you to your aunt eleanor blushed vividly and turned the hall mirror before which sl e had instinctively paused merit in order to straighten her bon set that she was conscious v as awry her uncle stood laughing and chuckling at her confusion just then t ere was a rustle of a robe and a tall woman came speeding down the stairs exclaiming I 1 m so glad you ve come I 1 heard one ol 01 the children crying and I 1 d bone up just for a moment thinking I 1 should be u to hear if you came in yes cherub here we are sate and sound eleanor silas hal th s Is our aunt emma how dy do my dearse I 1 m very gad to see you said mrs stagg eleanor on the cheek and earning 1 andly on the boys who be tween the butler the electric lights tie spacious hall and this new asplen did relative stood confounded you must be tired out and we II 11 go right in to supper what do you suppose emma I 1 caught this young woman doing just rowa beautifying herself in the glass it s new york air I 1 wager tl at within i week she 11 have been inside of every dressmaker s and milliners shop in the city where upon harold stagg laughed gleefully I 1 imagine you have discovered by his time that your uncles a sad tease said amma who was leading the way having already to a single fiance the capability of which poor realized comprehended the p of her niece s ideas on clothes she rejected that had harold been a malicious man he could not have thought of anything more in vidalous than to call attention to the poor child s toilet to say nothing of the fact that eleanor was and must remain for the present in deep black buel lack of perception on the part ot her better halt prompted her to ti rn and ilal her arm sympathetically n the young girl s while harold to whom it had suddenly occurred that 1 is allusion to millinery the re verse of well timed followed behind endeavoring to conceal his self con piousness cious ness by vigorously rubbing the heads of bis two nephews and ti a bluff glee the burden of v aich was that his heart was true to loll 1011 an hour later the baldvins baldwins Bald wins were comfortably ensconced in the blue suite and emma was hearing from the 1 ps of her husband an account of be journey although she had ma ped out in her mind a probable she had waited to see the children before giving her t on full swing but row that they appeared to be very much what she had hoped all sorts of thoughts were churning in her brain regarding their on to ter household and the proper exertions to be made in their be alf the boys were of just the right age for mr sampson as she expected and in the autumn after a summer by the sea side they id be packed with brand new outfits and she be saved from further responsibly ty except in vacation time for several years to come As to aleanor she v as agreeably digap pointed to be ure harold had writ ten that she was a quiet un objection able sort of girl but she had not been able to dismiss from her mind a haunting idea of a showy slangy oung person with gushing manners and mourning moir ning bedizened with jet un til the real n ece stood before her emma congratulated herself that she would have very pla n sailing elea nor was dowdy unsophisticated and retiring but a single eason in boci soci ety would work the necessary changes she was rather pretty now and she would be very fetching in deed when she learned to hold her self properly and to dress her hair with some regard to what was becom ing how preferable to have to deal with an unobjectionable child who had no preconceived ideas than with a bumptious coquette whose bad ners were already formed to be continued |
