Show I 1 the honorable uncle lan lancy C y by ETHEL HUESTON 0 boux boats co wes sal I 1 THE STORY STOEY TOUS THUS FAR FAB lett left orphans by a tragic automobile accident which claimed the lives ot of their nin mother ther and father three sisters helen adele and limpy are visited by their aunt olympia Olymp la politically minded wife ol of senator delaporte Slops bire she insists that the girls gins return with her to washington to make their home with them in addition to loving the girls aunt olympia knows they will be a terrific political asset senator Slop shira has as his political opponent one brother wilkie a minister whose political campaign Is furthered by seven unspeakable brats who sit git on the rostrum with him while he makes speeches aunt olympia and the senator kind and loving nevertheless know that their three nieces will mean votes for the senator senator Slop shire a ples pleasantly foggy individual who depends on the astuteness of his bis wife prepares for their coming though limpy the youngest Is 16 and helen the oldest Is 21 the senator buys them all the I 1 toys 0 Y and gifts he can find feeling that children should be occupied when they f first t meet their uncle laney lancy as he Is to t be known the girls take him to their united bosom soon adele most beautiful of the sisters meets meats len hardesty publicity man tor for brother wilkie wilkle CHAPTER m continued 5 len hardesty took a glass from the tray hilda had placed on the coffee table put to in liquor buquor and water he walked slowly toward her 1 I only hope you do not change your mind and accept this at my insistence e for I 1 need it myself more pit of the stomach business oh my dear miss adele do have a drink I 1 oh you must have a drink I 1 come on be a sport just one bowl pick you up no end adele leaned forward gazed intently deliriously into his eyes and then gave the lovely blonde head a very decided very becoming little shake oh no she said purring r ly no indeed thanks I 1 dare I 1 im haying having entirely too much sum stimulant u lant as it is and the blue eyes clung cluing to his len hardesty set the glass on a small table with a resounding plunk he turned to olympia Olymp la ouie ollie I 1 apologize he said 1 I think you had it in you oh I 1 lust just gave her a rough general outline said olympia 1 I must admit that she added a good deal of embellishment take your drink len youre going to need it I 1 may as well show you the rest hilda ask the young ladies to come in and squelch this worm len drained the glass ill have another thanks he poured tor for himself slowly when I 1 think that im going to spend t the he belg next el eight g ht months pitting my brats against aint your beauty oh come now len im not as good looking as all that said aunt olympia ouie ollie I 1 even see you YOM I 1 never expect to senyou again im not sure ill ever see anything but the automaton there there seems to be a sort of bright light an aura you ou might say around that pit we mentioned hilda coughed faintly in the doorway she thinks ashes the senator said olympia in a large whisper miss helen is waiting for a long distance telephone from iowa long di stancel from iowa ejaculated aunt olympia why chos there to talk to in iowa with congress in session it might be something about a school said adele swiftly or you dont suppose she could have forgotten to pay that grocery bill said aunt olympia from what I 1 saw of that delivery boy hes just the type to buy a new necktie and put on his g gloves loves and follow a bill clear to washington hilda coughed again and miss limpy is having a conference having a conference miss limpy what are you talking about Is the senator home no maam its with a aa a policeman miss limpy accident accidentally ah or something threw her arithmetic 11 I 1 trigonometry corrected adele loyally desm out the window and hit the policeman on the head and hes having a conference about it well dont let him in here said aunt olympia decidedly weve worms enough in here miss limpy can handle him herself tell her to come in when he goes len hardesty shook an accusing finger a st at aunt olympia you stag staged ed this ouie ollie you staged this whole scene you knew I 1 was coming youve been listening at keyholes and pursuing me with detectives and you knew I 1 was headed here and you staged this hitting a policeman on the dome with a trigonometry ono metry so the kind of campaign were up against eh no said aunt olympia honestly im sorry but I 1 cant hog the credit it never entered my head its good len I 1 admit its good but limpy thought hitup it up herself len groaned but just to cheer you up len I 1 will admit that adele is tar far the best looking the others are all right in some ways even better I 1 dont believe adele would ever have thought of bashing a policeman with a trigonometry but she got most of the looks youre telling me that he be demanded bitterly im no fool I 1 know theres a limit on that sort of thing but if that klu kiu thought of attacking a policeman out of her own head ashes dangerous all dangerous youre dangerous oh we just try to hold our own said aunt olympia seraphic aUy limpy lampy bobbed brightly in at that point she looked slight and small in comparison w with ith adeles tallness and olympias general largeness she began to speak almost before she was visible but len hardesty a good reporter did not overlook that even before she spoke the fleet ingest most trusting of at glances flashed between the two girls question and answer in one oh aunt olympia Olymp la began limpy a logarithm aunt olympia drew herself up and blinked uncertainly adele spoke quickly if you find out darting darling I 1 wish itell tell me I 1 studied them tor for a year and got a C plus but nobody ever thought to tell me what they really are what in the world are you I 1 talking about demanded aunt olympia t logarithms said limpy logarithms arith ms I 1 can spell them but I 1 cant imagine what th they eyare are I 1 ask him said olympia neatly hes a newspaperman he knows everything just ask him what I 1 Is s a logarithm limpy turned hopefully to len hardesty logarithm he said resent resentfully fally what do you mean logarithm V 6 4 4 r 7 11 5 add im sorry but I 1 cant hog the credit that was no logarithm that was a plain american policeman you bashed on the dome yes how about that policeman limpy asked aunt olympia Olymp la suddenly remembering the issue oh thail that was the merest accident unless limpy frowned and pursed up her lips unless there was something sinister beneath it I 1 confess I 1 was a little suspicious tor for why should he be prowling about under ance lan cys windows in election year I 1 asked if he was a special policeman or anything I 1 want to come right out and ask if he had been hired by the appos opposition but he said no he was just regular it was too bad it how did it happen limpy asked adele helpfully helpful lynow now that the first explosive moment had been safely bridged oh I 1 was a bit confused about those logarithms I 1 dont care tor for them at all auntie and if you dont mind id really rather study something else like french drama or modern novels I 1 looked out at the trees and all of a sudden it came to me in a sort of flash that there was a kind of a connection there sort of a relativity trees and logarithms or logs tor for short they seemed to go together and first thing I 1 knew the book was flying right out the window among the trees and I 1 do think it was very suspicious that a policeman should be lurking down there they went together trees and logs for short but the policeman just doean doesn t fit in n 1 unless he was a blockhead to b egin begin with said adele and perhaps he had a c hip chip on his shoulder added len hardesty well he seemed to have when he ie first came in but he went away very good I 1 gave him five dollars out of your pocketbook adele im low this week and he left eft his regards tor for the senator I 1 do it as a bribe of course but ut I 1 want to embarrass dear uncle laney lancy in election year its the senator broke in hilda moodily olympia headed for or the hall telephone on a nervous trot that dour its the senator always took her on the run in a tremor for or some pet bill limpy occupied herself cheerfully with the cakes and nuts on the tray len hardesty got up suddenly and went over and stood beside adele now seated in a big chair with the blue curtains tor for flattering back ground she looked up with a slight smile and took a sip of her lemonade she looked up again this time the smile melted away on her lips and suddenly they were looking into each others eyes deeply very soberly len shook his head with sudden impatience something must be said do you like washington he asked gravely though the trite query struck him as a good deal of an anticlimax after meeting her eyes 1 I do today she said does the old girl give you all your lines he asked moodily not that one that was original 11 something did you mean it yes she said with honest brevity I 1 ty well its a good thing to tell the truth youre going to be seeing a good deal of me from this on oh no were not interrupted olympia Olymp la bounding back the only way were going to be seeing anything of you Is at the other end of a good sharp stiletto if theres any tampering with my campaign material ill report it to some committee on something 1 I cant stay for dinner tonight he said though its nice of you to as ask k me I 1 have another engagement I 1 can come back about nine though since you insist and talk things over with sloppy and sort of check up on the campaign and how about my dropping in for luncheon around one thirty tomorrow I 1 can take the whole afternoon off if I 1 dont get caught and give the girls a good sales talk were going to be were going to be out from right now till the election said aunt olympia rudely see you tonight about nine thanks ollie sweet of you to ask me uncle lancil my were virtually out now said aunt olympia what do you said adele suddenly are they arriving at an armistice or Is this a lull before they tear each other limb from limb im expecting blows at any minute said limpy what im waiting for otherwise id be right back with my logarithms blows I 1 blows between ollie and me he sat on the arm of her chair and put his arm around her why ollie and I 1 are mad about each other its my one regret that sloppy saw her first why id lie ile down in the dirt and let her walk right over me though id be a good deal flattened in the process and shed do the il same amie tor for me tool sure I 1 would said aunt olani 1 pla a with a beaming smile she patted his hand affectionately you snake ln in the grassl grassi CHAPTER IV never in her life had aunt olympia experienced such satisfying happiness the girls with their gentle youth made a perfect toil foil tor for her rugged ruddiness her biting humor their appreciative laughter spurred her to gusty heights never before attained she had not realized how large a part the audience plays in the success of theatrical endeavor she could hardly let them out of her sight long enough to get their proper sleep and begrudged limpy every minute spent on those lousy logar logarithms ithma so the girls were a little disconcerted one day when she went about the apartment wrapped in a brooding air of detachment full lips compressed left eyelid ominously lowered seeming not to hear their light talk and still more surprisingly adding no enlivening embellishments lish ments of her own they watched her uneasily are you sick aunt olympia helen finally asked no she said abruptly im working my subconscious the girls smiled faintly dont overtax it it said adele 1 I understand its rather delicate and be careful it turn and begin working you added limpy aunt olympia did not hear them that night she addressed the senator mildly del I 1 want to ask your advice the senator coughed deprecatingly and his glance at the girls was apologetic what do you think we ought to do about these girls she demanded that shocked the senator into immediate coherence do about therril he ejaculated do nothing about them leave them alonet doing all right for themselves referring to their social life olympia continued should we bring them out or keep them in seclusion cl the senator wiped his glasses then he smiled my dear living up to my established reputation as a philanthropic and public spirited american I 1 say bring them out give the world a treat tread the world needs a treat and I 1 am not one who believes that the blessed should b be e niggardly with their treasures olympia frowned thinking of the camp campaign aien aign she said significantly which would have more telling effect op the campaign to let them go out decorously ot of course most decorously or keep them in modest retirement until unla we go home it if I 1 know our constituents and I 1 think I 1 do it would flatter them no end to get the idea that while we were obliged to safeguard and shelter these children from the insi insidious diou snares of washington we realize realia that in our home among our friends our ur constituents they are safe the senator considered this fr frowningly 0 he had not yet worked up any campaign spirit himself with congress in no mood for adjournment journ ment his troubled eyes circled the attentive subject of the discussion and the sight led him to instant conclusion no use to punish the girls for the sake of a few votes in my opinion let them do as they please olympia never paid any attention to what lie he said we could go right ahead building them up whetting public interest putting out just the right photos phot osand and still hold them aloof it would delight the voters and why not it Is a definite compliment ment but I 1 dont want to bore the girls aunt olympia helen broke to in gently if 11 you dont mind id really like to go around as much as 1 I can I 1 do not mean to gay social things I 1 do not want to seem disrespectful or lacking in feeling but since I 1 shall be with you only this one season I 1 feel I 1 ought to learn as much as I 1 can get as much experience peri ence as possible id like to learn how things run how congress works all the things that go to make washington the heart of the nation aunt olympia agreed with her heartily she invariably agreed with the girls even if she flatly flouted her agreement in the next breath she was determined to be on good terms with them at all cost and she felt that an initial agreement took the edge off what followed perfectly right my dear perfectly sound so you should washington is an education a higher and in some ways a lower education it Is your civic duty to learn all you can the life here will be valuable experience for you in the future whether you teach school or go into politics or merely se sell say groceries A swift glance flickered among the girls 1 I dont see that politics enters into selling groceries said uncle laney lancy unless you refer to putting the bad fruit at the bottom ol of the basket aunt olympia gave him a straight hard look already the girls knew that look they called it her shut upping look aunt olympia gave me her shut upping look and I 1 never opened my mouth they would say to one another uncle laney lancy had no name for it but he understood it A thorough education he remarked safely dropping groceries you can come about with me helen you can sit in my committee meetings some of them are merely good antidotes tor for insomnia but on tile the other hand some of them are very interesting the munitions committee got into a fight every time it met have enjoyed that but unfortunately it wound up its work and quit after all went on aunt olympia musingly it does impress homey hicks to know that one has been received in washington but well be careful well discriminate sure the idea corroborated the senator discriminate take them only to things that are good fun and hold them in seclusion from the bores |