Uncle Lucky

“ Well, it’s time now to tell about Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot, his dear, kind, generous rabbit uncle.
“I’m never going to give anybody any medicine as long as I live,” said the old gentleman rabbit, taking out his blue polka-dot handkerchief and wiping his spectacles and then the back of his neck and the tip of his nose.
“You never even get thanked for it.” And then Uncle Lucky put his handkerchief on his nose and his spectacles in his pocket. Oh, dear me! I mean he did just what I didn’t say he did, and after that he climbed into the Luckymobile beside Billy Bunny and drove away. ”

“ Quail for her kindness in letting him sleep under her bush all night and part of the early morning.
Well, sir, that little rabbit hopped along almost all day, and still he didn’t reach his Uncle Lucky’s house. “I wonder if I have lost the way?” he said aloud, and, all of a sudden, a voice answered: “I guess you have. Lots of people do,” and a kind-looking old mooley cow pushed her head over the fence and smiled at him. And, oh, my, she had a big, beautiful smile, and this made the little rabbit laugh and forget how tired he was.
“Do you know where my Uncle Lucky lives——Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot?” ”

“ This is the reason why it is important to have an uncle; in other words, some influential person to aid you in rising."
"Even the memory of an illustrious uncle is sometimes a stepping-stone," remarked Charlie Bolton. "The late Emperor Louis Napoleon is an example—lucky fellow; his uncle's name and fame got him a throne—with the help of considerable cheating."
"Not so lucky, if you look at his end," said John. "But from other and quite disinterested motives, I intend to keep as close to my uncle as he. ”

“ There was my uncle Wardle; a better man never broke the bread of life: he took to billiards, and he didn't live with aunt a month afterwards.
"A lucky fellow?
"And that's what you call a man who leaves his wife—a 'lucky fellow'? ”

“ Your uncle knows Lucky, don't he?"
"Yes," said David. "Uncle Will took care of him when he was shot. Is he well again?"
"Oh, yes! Off trapping now somewhere in the woods. He's a shrewd one, that Lucky. Brings in more furs than any other man in the tribe. He's a tall, wiry chap, with big cheek-bones an' little foxy eyes, an' the reg'lar Indian virtues an' vices. He's brave, an' he's enduring, an' a splendid hunter, but he's sly an' lazy. Little Coffee Jack, his brother, is going to be just like him."
"There's Father calling us," said David, presently. "They probably want water. ”

“ And Mother, who had spent the afternoon down under the shade of the friendly bluegums on the creek, darning and patching, wondered what was keeping her little girlies so quiet up on the wooden verandah.
“You know, Dadda has a very rich brother somewhere in the world, and, of course, he’s our uncle. So, at that rate, we have a Rich Uncle!”
“A Rich Uncle,” they all murmured.
“A smart lot of good he is to us,” put in Eileen. “That’s the last we’ll hear of him.” ”

“ My uncle, my mother's step-brother, the heir to this vast property, had just been married. I hated him for living at all; but for him I should have been the heiress of Queen's Marvel. I longed for the place with all avarice, with a passion, which you who are born to wealth can scarcely comprehend. I smothered my sensations, however, and tried to make myself agreeable to the family. I was never beautiful, but I had the power of fascination. In particular, I fascinated my uncle; he was young, only a few years my senior; he was handsome, fully endowed with all that can render life delightful. ”

“ His eyes looked worried, but his smile at her asperity was good-humored. “I will do everything I can, Miss Gosling,” he said, “for I want the treasure, if it is there, pretty badly.”
“Don't you feel sure it's there?”
“I should not be surprised, now that I come to think of it. I was never particularly curious about my uncle's affairs, but I heard from a friend, a few hours ago, how much he had left, one way and another, and I confess the total sum struck me as small. I just wish I could imagine a reason for my uncle's extraordinary method of informing me of my good fortune.” ”

“ I am not your heir, it is true; but the thought of a millionaire uncle is a pleasant one, nevertheless. In moments of trouble we dream of him, we form all sorts of affectionate hypotheses, even revel in thoughts of apoplexy and long for cholera, that Providence of impecunious heirs, which appears like a good fairy, robed in rosy hues."
"My dear Florestan," laughed Louis, "though I wish no one harm, I admit that I would be glad to see your uncle's fortune fall into your hands instead of going to his detestable daughter. You would know how to enjoy the money at least ”

“ Gray?" interposed Grace.
"I hope so, my dear," sighed the old lady. "If he has inherited the beautiful traits of his uncle, his wholesome tastes for the outdoors and nature, he can't help being a fine fellow. But I have not seen my nephew since he was a child. He has been living here and there all these years, sometimes in America and sometimes in England. His mother and father are both dead, and he has been brought up by his mother's unmarried sisters, who are half English themselves. But he must be a nice boy, even if he has only one drop of his uncle's blood in his veins." ”

“ He is not to blame, therefore, for what has occurred now. It is not for us, dear child, to find fault with him because he is silent and reserved with us; the only feeling we ought to have towards him is one of deep gratitude for his great kindness to us. You don't forget our sad condition, my darling, on the morning we received your uncle's letter.'
'No, mother, I don't forget,' I said, somewhat softened towards uncle Bryan. ”

“ Indeed, my passion for him is double that he feels for me; words fail to set out my yearning for him; and were it not for the extravagances of his tongue and the wanderings of his wit, my father had not cut off his favours from him nor decreed unto him exclusion and prohibition. However, man’s fortune is nought but change, and patience in every case is most becoming; peradventure He who ordained our severance will vouchsafe us reunion!” And she repeated the following:
O son of mine uncle, the like of thine anguish I suffer, the like of thy passion I feel ”

“ I suppose because they were touched to see a poor little fellow who did not in the least know what had befallen him or what lay before him, living his baby life as happy as the day is long. Thus, whether or not he was good himself, the sight of him and his affliction made other people good, and, above all, made everybody love him—so much so, that his uncle the Regent began to feel a little uncomfortable.
Now, I have nothing to say against uncles in general. They are usually very excellent people, and very convenient to little boys and girls. ”

“ Your uncle is expecting you. God has kept him alive in order that he may see your face again. To him your face is as that of an angel. To him those blue eyes of yours are as innocent as those of a little child. To him you are the spotless darling, undefiled, uninjured by the world, whom he has nurtured and loved for your father’s sake and for your own. You must on no account, Annie, open his eyes to the truth with regard to you now. It is your duty to keep up the illusion as far as he is concerned. ”

“ Sir, I can hardly realize I went into that country a lad of fifteen, like your nephew, and here I am, out of it, an old man."
"Pah, Eric man," says my uncle, "you'll be finding a wife one of these days and renewing your youth."
"Uncle," I broke out when the Hudson's Bay man had gone home, "how old is Mr. Hamilton?"
"Fifteen years older than you are, boy, and I pray Heaven you may have half as much of the man in you at thirty as he has," returns my uncle mentally measuring me with that stern eye of his. At that information, my heart gave a curious, jubilant thud. ”

“ In fact, they have to be in most places,” laughing ironically. “The world is quite turned upside down, but money is on the top everywhere. And the uncle, he has several interests I have heard. He has no family.”
“He is not a real relative, but a sort of godfather or guardian. She is like a child to him. There is a story that he was in love with her mother when they were children. Besides his trading business he has an interest in the lead mines. And it is said there are some wonderful discoveries of salt that hunters have found. We shall distance you more southern people some day.” ”

“ Over and over again I caught my aunt watching me, with a most melancholy expression in her eyes, as if she witnessed in my undissembled enjoyment of Theresa’s society, the dissolution [139] of the last fragment that remained of her pretty hopes.
“Tom,” said uncle Dick, when the dessert was upon the table, and the servants had left the room, “I should like to see Conny. She would take it ill were I to go away without wishing her joy.”
“We’ll walk to Updown after dinner,” replied uncle Tom. “A kindly word is a great help to a young heart, isn’t it, Dick? ”

“ Vandeleur to-morrow. Even if you don't like me you would most certainly like my uncle, who is one of the noblest and best of men, generous and forgiving to a fault, and one who, in spite of his wealth, has suffered many deep and bitter trials in what to him has been far more important than money, his domestic affection. He is very old and very lonely, though with his chivalrous kindness towards all women he is the very man who should by rights be surrounded by a happy family circle. ”

“ God has punished me for it: it is quite right. I don't complain at it. So I used to take him up his posset every evening. Then he used to kiss me and squeeze me to his heart, calling me his dear niece, and charging me to be good:
—You will always be good? he used to say to me.
—Yes, uncle.
—Always! you promise me.
—Yes, uncle.
—Ah, let me kiss you for that kind promise. I found that he kissed me for rather a long time and although it was very pleasant to me, still it used to give me reason for reflection: "How can he love me so much, I thought, when he is not my uncle?" ”

“ Well, I told him my case, for one young fellow soon comprehends the difficulties of another, and begged him to ask for the money of uncle Hugh, as if for himself, telling him, that as he was a new-comer, and a new beginner, he could not so readily be refused; and promising to serve him as good a turn myself, when he had got a little into our ways, and wanted it, with my good uncle Relvil. Well! what do you think was the next news? It's enough to make a man's hair stand on end, to see what a spite fortune has taken to me! ”

“ I sprang up and dressed myself as soon as I was fairly awake, and hurried down stairs to find mine uncle thoughtfully pacing up and down the hall.
"Where is his Grace?" I inquired, so soon as I had asked and received his blessing.
"Up and away three hours ago!" was the answer. "He did but tarry till his horse was fed and refreshed, and then took his way to a hunting lodge he hath in these parts. He saith his people are well used to his freaks, so no one will wonder to see him."
"Yes, he often rides alone," I answered. "I would he did not, for his life is too precious to be risked. ”

“ He stood at their cabin door, and beat back the assailants with a club, and succeeded in driving them off. But my uncle and cousins were so angry with him for saving white men’s lives that they whipped him with a horsewhip. We all knew my uncle loved us. He was always kind to us; but I never could love him again as I had done after he whipped my brother,—my noble, patient brother, who bore his uncle no ill-will, but was satisfied that he had saved the lives of his friends.
Brave deeds don’t always get rewarded in this world. ”

“ There is plenty of time. He has behaved ill, though I am willing to forgive him for my girl’s sake; but there would be a want [221] of moral propriety in my heaping benefits upon him too suddenly.”
“Perhaps so,” said uncle Dick. “But Charlie grows uneasy and pines for his sweetheart.”
“Quite true,” I answered, and without ceremony left the room.
Theresa received a letter next morning from my father, and a very gorgeous epistle it was—a series of dignified and embroidered congratulations and loftily-expressed good wishes. ”

“ Suddenly it occurred to to me that I had never quite understood my uncle's character. He, father to a great flock of poor and ignorant Irish; an austere and saintly man, to whom livers of hopeless lives daily appealed for help heavenward; who was reputed never to have sent away a troubled peasant without relieving him of his burden by sharing it; whose knees were worn less by the altar steps than by the tears and embraces of the guilty and wretched: he refused to humor my light extravagances, or to find time to talk with me of books, flowers, and music. ”

“ His uncle, Ralph’s father, had been a man who late in life came into enormous wealth—a man who, having led a life of extravagance in his youth, and breathed an atmosphere of debt and difficulty, found himself, when the capacity for enjoyment was gone, the possessor of a vast fortune. ”

“ When my uncle had given his bidding, I made so bold as to beseech him with coaxing words that he would bid her go with me. And if any should deem that it was but a light matter to ask of a good-hearted old man that he should harbor a fair young maid for a while, in a large and wealthy house, he will be mistaken, inasmuch as my uncle was wont, at all times and in all places, to have regard first to his wife's goodwill and pleasure. ”

“ Those hussies are mistresses, you will say to me! I know it: that is to say, they are females who belong to everybody. The question is settled: my uncle is a virtuous man by the side of our friends. As he is incapable of such vulgar and promiscuous intrigues he has a supplementary household, that is all! Like the prudent traveller who is acquainted with the length of the journey he judiciously prepares relays.
Compare that family gathering at my aunt Van Cloth's with those unhealthy stolen pleasures of debauched husbands who feel ashamed and tremble with the fear of being surprised. ”