Uncle Frank

“ He was standing before her with his white head dropped upon his hat, the very picture of misery and remorse, and Jerrie laid her hand upon his head, and said:
"I do forgive you, Uncle Frank, fully and freely, for Maude's sake if no other; and if she lives what is mine shall be hers. Tell her so, and tell her I am coming to see her as soon as I am able. I am so tired and sick to-day, and everything is so strange. Oh, if Harold were here." ”

“ I guess you might have called him a wild Indian once," her uncle admitted. "He's pretty old and I shouldn't wonder but what he had been on the warpath against the white settlers."
"Oh!" exclaimed Janet. "Maybe he'll get wild again!"
"Oh, no he won't!" laughed Uncle Frank. "He's only too glad now to live on the reservation and sell the baskets the squaws make. The Indian men don't like to work."
Running Horse, which was the queer name the Indian had chosen for himself, or which had been given him, walked along, wrapped in his blanket, though the day was a warm one. ”

“ Uncle Frank and some of the cowboys rode over the prairie, trying to find the stealing Indians, but they could not. Nor could they find the missing horses, either.
"It's a good thing Uncle Frank has lots of cattle," said Teddy that night when the cowboys came back to the ranch house, not having found the horse thieves. "If he didn't have he'd be poor when the Indians take his animals."
"He'll be poor if the Indians keep on the way they have been doing," said Aunt Millie. "I hope he can catch the bad men!" ”

“ Of course we will!" cried Uncle Frank. "Where's my shovel? Come on, Dick! We've got to dig him out! Come on, everybody!"
"I want to help!" cried Teddy.
"So do I!" added Janet.
"Let me dig!" begged Aunt Jo. "I can handle a snow shovel as good as a man, and you must be tired, Uncle Frank."
[237] "No, we'll soon dig him out," said Daddy Martin. "The rest of you stay here. Ruth," he went on to his wife, "get some hot water ready, and a bed. If that poor boy has been snowed up in that bungalow for two or three days he must be almost dead, and half starved, too." ”

“ See all the work you have made for Uncle Frank and his men."
"Horses run out when Trouble open gate," was the only reply Baby William made.
"Yes, I know," went on his mother. "But it was wrong! You must never again open any gates on Uncle Frank's ranch. Just think—the horses might have stepped on you or kicked you!"
"We didn't see him near the gate or we'd have stopped him," put in Teddy.
"That's true," added Janet. "The first we saw was the ponies going out, and then we saw Trouble behind the gate." ”

“ And it was generally believed that he could really penetrate into the mysteries of futurity. Whether true or not, he had the name, and that is about half of what one needs in this gullible age. I found Uncle Frank seated in the chimney corner, about ten o'clock at night. As soon as I entered, the old man left his seat. ”

“ They spent the morning playing about the ranch near the house. They made a sea-saw from a board and a barrel, and played some of the games they had learned on Cherry Farm or while camping with Grandpa Martin. Then dinner time came, but Uncle Frank and the cowboys did not come back to it.
"Won't they be hungry?" asked Teddy.
"Oh, they took some bacon, coffee and other things with them," said Aunt Millie. "They often have to camp out for days at a time." ”

“ Uncle Frank replied. "These Indians aren't very nice. They're quite bad, in fact, and we all wish they'd stay where they belong and not come off their reservation and steal our cattle and horses."
"Well, I'm going to ask one to make me a bow and some arrows when you catch 'em," decided Teddy.
That afternoon Teddy saw his sister trying to do something with bits of string and sticks in a shady spot on the porch.
"What are you making, Jan," he asked. "A cat's cradle?"
"Pooh! you don't make a cat's cradle with sticks," said the little girl. ”

“ Hop Sing has supper ready for you."
"Hop Sing!" laughed Mother Martin. "That sounds like a new record on the phonograph."
"It's the name of our Chinese cook," explained Aunt Millie, "and a very good one he is, too!"
"Are the cowboys coming in to eat with us?" asked Teddy, as they all went into the house, where the baggage had been carried by Uncle Frank and Daddy Martin.
"Oh, no. They eat by themselves in their own building. Not that we wouldn't have them, for they're nice boys, all of them, but they'd rather be by themselves."
"Do any Indians come in?" ”

“ They made much of him, as strangers always did.
"They said I must call them Grandpa and Grandma Perry," he told his own grandmother when he got home.
He told her, furthermore, privately, when she came upstairs after he was in bed to see if everything was all right, that he thought Annie had shown very good taste in marrying uncle Frank. She told of it, downstairs, and there was a great laugh. "I don't know when I have taken such a fancy to a boy," uncle Frank said warmly. "He is so good, and yet he's smart enough, too." ”

“ Everyone gave Uncle Frank worsted spiders, papier-mâché bugs, or crêpe paper butterflies. Evelyn had got a doll’s coat for Amy made of fur, and they gave me a toy pistol and a trap. Uncle Archie’s joke was a bottle of “Seven Sutherland Sisters” hair tonic and a switch, because he has hardly any hair. There were lots of others too, and a great many beautiful things. Quite everyone talked at once, paper rustled and grew to great heaps on the floor, ribbons tangled around your ankles as you stepped, and it was--just the way Christmas always is. ”

“ So interesting was it that he did not notice Frank when he came in, or even hear his greeting, and well might Albert be keenly absorbed in those documents, for they made him the emissary privileged to lay at the feet of the girl he loved—a fortune!
No more need she devote herself to her foster-parents for many years to come, and no more need Uncle Terry putter over lobster traps in rain or shine, or good, patient Aunt Lissy bake, wash, and mend, year in and year out. ”

“ They are used to camping on the prairies, and they know how to make a fire, broil the bacon and make their coffee," answered Aunt Millie. "You need never worry about Uncle Frank and his cowboys. They'll be all right."
And so they were. It was not until the next afternoon that the party which had gone out to chase the Indians came back. They were tired, because they had ridden a good many miles, but they said they had slept well and had had enough to eat.
"Did you catch the Indians?" asked Teddy eagerly. ”

“ For grandmama, I know it is impossible; but will you write and ask her about Harry and Laura? The sooner the better, uncle David, because I often think it probable——”
Frank coloured and hesitated; he looked earnestly at his uncle for some moments, who saw what was meant, and then added,
“There is one person more, far distant, and little thinking of what is to come, who must be told. You have always been a father to me, uncle David, but he also would wish to be here now. Little as we have been together, I know how much he loves me.” ”

“ Some of his nearest neighbors thought they could count a great many worldly spots upon him. I don't know how that was, as I never was acquainted with the man, and ought not to judge him too harshly. Indeed, Uncle Frank must endeavor to keep in mind, that with what measure we mete it shall be measured to us again. But from all the shreds and patches of his history that have come down to the present day, Mr. Birch does seem to have been a selfish man, and a great deal too fond of money. ”

“ I noticed Uncle Frank as I left the room. He was deep in that book he had given me, and I envied him, and I wished I could forget myself through bugs, or anything. Someone--I don’t know who--said, “Collect something, it doesn’t matter what,” and I think that someone was thinking of the forgetting possibilities which come through a hobby. For the happiest person has moments when he needs something to make him forget unhappiness.
In my room I considered the bracelet affair and decided I COULD NOT risk S. K.’s being hurt. ”

“ But when uncle Frank tells Bertie that the dog, and the wagon, and the pretty harness, and the whip, are all his own to keep, he is so glad that he jumps up and down like a young monkey.
He says, "Thank you, thank you, uncle Frank! When I am a man, I shall try and be just like you." Then his uncle lifts him into the express-wagon, gives him the reins and the whip, and away they go, down the area-walk, to the stable.
M. J. TAYLOR.
[54]
[56]
RICH AND POOR.
Here is a young girl taking a walk on a cold day. ”

“ In the first place, Uncle Frank wasn’t reading any of his bug books (Uncle Frank is very famous for his bug knowledge, as you probably know--some people even calling him the “Second Fabre”) , nor did he have on two pairs of glasses. In fact, he was acting entirely unnatural and quite as people of his age do when they are preparing to be disagreeable. ”

“ As to that, if we take them in the lot, the less said about them the better. Uncle Frank’s a fine fellow, and father seems very glad to have him; but Aunt Augusta—well, you’ll see her when she comes. She wishes herself home again, and so do Evelina and Adela, I suspect. ”

“ Would you be thinkin' about a gal? Now, just put yourself in that position. No, sirree, David: you'd be a wreck—a mental, physical wreck, because you'd know that your uncle knowed that you killed his father. I tell you it makes a terrible difference when you know that some one else knows. Your uncle Frank understands now that two men know—me and Perry. He knows I'm hangin' around somewhere in this world, ready to spring on him. Yep; there's no more peace for him, no more sleep. He'll blow his brains out, perhaps. ”

“ They saw, off on the prairie, a number of low, red buildings standing close together. Beyond the buildings were big fields, in which were many small dots.
"What are the dots?" asked Janet.
"Those are my horses and cattle—steers we call the last," explained Uncle Frank.
"They are eating grass to get fat You'll soon be closer to them."
"Are the Indians near here?" Teddy inquired.
"No, not very near. It's a day's ride to their reservation. But don't worry about them. They won't bother you if you don't bother them," said Uncle Frank. ”

“ And the deep, dark, wrathful smoke-clouds rolled around, and above, and downward, moving close to them, and over them, as though eager to involve them in that dread fate which they feared had overwhelmed the lost boy.
"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Frank, at last. "I'll go and hunt him up."
"We'll all go," said David.
"Wait," said Uncle Moses, as the boys were starting. "We must hunt him up as we do in the woods. We can't tell where he is. ”

“ Frank. But I have! I'm sorry for him! I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself! He loves a good dinner—pleasant moments, and pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, or in his mouldy chambers. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it, I defy him! If he finds me going there, year after year and saying, Uncle Scrooge, how are you? ”

“ Why, he is more like a son to Uncle John than a beastly secretary."
"He has made himself necessary," said the girl, "and that is halfway to making yourself wealthy."
The little frown vanished from Frank's brow, and he chuckled.
"That is almost an epigram," he said. "What did you tell uncle?"
"I told him that I did not think that his suggestion was possible and that I did not care for Mr. Cole, nor he for me. You see, Frank, I owe your Uncle John so much. I am the daughter of one of his best friends, and since dear daddy died Uncle John has looked after me. ”

“ During active life Frank’s uncle had been regarded as unusually shrewd in all his moves, but old age had brought failing abilities, and, happening to take a strong fancy to Merry’s professor at Fardale Academy, where he had studied, he appointed him Frank’s guardian. ”

“ Willy was sceptical. He thought Frank had been dreaming, or that it was only Uncle Balla, or "some one" moving about the yard. But a second cackle of warning reached them, and in a minute both boys were out of bed pulling on their clothes with trembling impatience.
"Let's go and wake Uncle Balla," proposed Willy, getting himself all tangled in the legs of his trousers.
"No; I'll tell you what, let's catch him ourselves," suggested Frank.
"All right," assented Willy. "We'll catch him and lock him up; suppose he's got a pistol? your gun maybe won't go off; it doesn't always burst the cap." ”

“ Instead of calling for assistance, however, uncle David carefully lifted Frank in his own arms, and carried him to the carriage, where, after a few moments, the fresh air, and the rapid motion revived his recollection, and he burst into tears.
“Poor grandmama! and Harry and Laura!” cried he, weeping convulsively. “Oh! when shall I see them all again!”
“My dear boy!” said Major Graham, trying to be cheerful; “do you think nobody ever left home before? One would suppose you never expected to come back! Three years seem an age when we look forward, but are nothing after they have fled. ”

“ Frank started to meet his aunt who was returning to the room after having attended to her evening duties. He led her to a distance, where they were soon absorbed in an interesting conversation, in which they were joined by uncle Morgan, a thorough gentleman of the old school, perhaps a little too formal in his extreme politeness, but a very excellent husband and father. He is a lawyer, and a man of considerable wealth. Fidelia often looked that way as if wishing to follow her cousin, but at length left the sofa, and took a seat near us ”