Aunt Janes Nieces on the Ranch

Subscribe for ad free access & additional features for teachers. Authors: 267, Books: 3,607, Poems & Short Stories: 4,435, Forum Members: 71,154, Forum Posts: 1,238,602, Quizzes: 344 And now, said Major Doyle, rubbing his hands together as he half reclined in his big chair in a corner of the sitting room, now we shall enjoy a nice cosy winter in dear New York. Cosy? said his young daughter, Miss Patricia Doyle, raising her head from her sewing to cast a glance through the window at the whirling snowflakes. Ab-so-lute-ly cosy, Patsy, my dear, responded the major. Here we are in our own steam-heated flatseven rooms and a bath, not counting the closetshot water any time you turn the faucet; a telephone call brings the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker; latest editions of the papers chucked into the passage! What more do you want? This scornful ejaculation came from a little bald-headed man seated in the opposite corner, who had been calmly smoking his pipe and dreamily eyeing the flickering gas-log in the grate. The major gave a start and turned to stare fixedly at the little man. Patsy, scenting mischief, indulged in a little laugh as she threaded her needle. Youre talking nonsense, was the reply, uttered in a tone of cheery indifference. New York in winter is a nightmare. Blizzards, thaws, hurricanes, ice, la grippe, shiversgrouches. Drumsticks! cried the major indignantly. Its the finest climate in the worldbar none. Weve the finest restaurants, the best theatres, the biggest stores andand the stock exchange. And then, theres Broadway! What more can mortal desire, John Merrick? Uncle John is getting uneasy, observed Patsy. Ive noticed it for some time. This is the first snowstorm that has caught him in New York for several years. The blizzard came unusually early, said Mr. Merrick apologetically. It took me by surprise. But I imagine there will be a few days more of decent weather before winter finally sets in. By that time Patsy looked at her uncle reflectively, while the major grunted and shifted uneasily in his chair. Father and daughter were alike devoted to John Merrick, whose generosity and kindliness had rescued them from poverty and thrust upon them all the comforts they now enjoyed. Even this pretty flat building in Willing Square, close to the fashionable New York residence district, belonged in fee to Miss Doyle, it having been a gift from her wealthy uncle. And Uncle John made his home with them, quite content in a seven-room-flat when his millions might have purchased the handsomest establishment in the metropolis. Down in Wall Street and throughout the financial districts the name of the great John Merrick was mentioned with awe; here in Willing Square he smoked a pipe in his corner of the modest sitting room and cheerfully argued with his irascible brother-in-law, Major Doyle, whose business it was to look after Mr. Merricks investments and so allow the democratic little millionaire the opportunity to come and go as he pleased. The majors greatest objection to Uncle Johns frequent absences from New Yorkespecially during the winter monthswas due to the fact that his beloved Patsy, whom he worshiped with a species of idolatry, usually accompanied her uncle. It was quite natural for the major to resent being left alone, and equally natural for Patsy to enjoy these travel experiences, which in Uncle Johns company were always delightful. Patsy Doyle was an unprepossessing little thing, at first sight. She was short of stature and a bit plump; freckled and red-haired; neat and wholesome in appearance but lacking style in either form or apparel. But to her friends Patricia was beautiful. Her big blue eyes, mischievous and laughing, won hearts without effort, and the girl was so genuineso natural and unaffectedthat she attracted old and young alike and boasted a host of admiring friends. This girl was Uncle Johns favorite niece, but not the only one. Beth De Graf, a year younger than her cousin Patsy, was a ward of Mr. Merrick and lived with the others in the little flat at Willing Square. Beth was not an orphan, but her father and mother, residents of an Ohio town, had treated the girl so selfishly and inconsiderately that she had passed a very unhappy life until Uncle John took her under his wing and removed Beth from her depressing environment. This niece was as beautiful in form and feature as Patsy Doyle was plain, but she did not possess Patsys cheerful and uniform temperament and was by nature reserved and diffident in the presence of strangers. Yet Beth had many good qualities, among them a heart-felt sympathy for young girls who were not so fortunate as herself. On this disagreeable winters day she had set out to visit a settlement school where she had long since proved herself the good angel of a score of struggling girls. The blizzard had developed since she left home, but no one worried about her, for Beth was very resourceful. There was another niece, likewise dear to John Merricks heart, who had been Louise Merrick before she married a youth named Arthur Weldon, some two years before this story begins. A few months ago Arthur had taken his young wife to California, where he had purchased a fruit ranch, and there a baby was born to them which they named Jane Merrick Weldona rather big name for what was admitted to be a very small person. This baby, now five months old and reported to be thriving, had been from its birth of tremendous interest to every inhabitant of the Willing Square flat. It had been discussed morning, noon and night by Uncle John and the girls, while even the grizzled major was not ashamed to admit that that Weldon infant was an important addition to the family. Perhaps little Jane acquired an added interest by being so far away from all her relatives, as well as from the fact that Louise wrote such glowing accounts of the babys beauty and witcheries that to believe a tithe of what she asserted was to establish the child as an infantile marvel. Now, Patsy Doyle knew in her heart that Uncle John was eager to see Louises baby, and long ago she had confided to Beth her belief that the winter would find Mr. Merrick at Arthur Weldons California ranch, with all his three nieces gathered around him and the infantile marvel in his arms. The same suspicion had crept into Major Doyles mind, and that is why he so promptly resented the suggestion that New York was not an ideal winter resort. Somehow, the old major felt in his bones that his beloved Patsy would be whisked away to California, leaving her father to face the tedious winter without her; for he believed his business duties would not allow him to get away to accompany her. Yet so far Uncle John, in planning for the winter, had not mentioned California as even a remote possibility. It was understood he would go somewhere, but up to the moment when he declared we will be out of it, of course, when the bad weather sets in, he had kept his own counsel and forborne to express a preference or a decision. The major sniffed. He was surprised, it is true, and rather pleased, because Bermuda is so much nearer New York than is California; but it was his custom to object. Patsy cant go, he declared, as if that settled the question for good and all. The sea voyage would kill her. Im told by truthful persons that the voyage to Bermuda is the most terrible experience known to mortals. Those who dont die on the way over positively refuse ever to come back again, and so remain forever exiled from their homes and familiesuntil they have the good luck to die from continually eating onions. I think I would like Bermuda, she said. Anyhow, whatever pleases Uncle John will please me, so long as we get away from New York. Why, ye female traitor! cried the major; and added, for Uncle Johns benefit: New York is admitted by men of discretion to be the modern Garden of Eden. Its the one desideratum of Here the door opened abruptly and Beth came in. Her cheeks were glowing red from contact with the wind and her dark tailor-suit glistened with tiny drops left by the melted snow. In her mittened hand she waved a letter. Then she disappeared into an inner room and Patsy, disregarding the injunction, caught up the epistle and tore open the envelope. Uncle John refilled his pipe and looked at Patsys tense face inquiringly. The major stiffened, but could not wholly repress his curiosity. After a moment he said: No, indeed, returned Patsy, again reading. But it had colic most dreadfully, and Louise was in despair. But the nurse, a dark-skinned Mexican creature, gave it a dose of some horrid hot stuff Perhaps so, when she wrote, commented the major, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief; but thats a week ago, at least. A thousand things might have happened to that child since then. Why was Arthur Weldon such a fool as to settle in a desert place, far away from all civilization? He ought to be prosecuted for cruelty. At El Cajon Ranch, said he, theres a fine big house where the sunshine peeps in and floods the rooms every day in the year. Hear that blizzard howl outside, and think of the roses blooming this instant on the trellis of Louises window. Arthur has two automobiles and can get to town in twenty minutes. Theyve a long-distance telephone and Ive talked with em over the line several times. Yes; but I figured I could afford it. I own some telephone stock, you know, so I may get part of that investment back. They have their own cows, and chickensas Beth truly saysand any morning they can pick oranges and grapefruit from their own trees for breakfast. That chile-con-carne nurse ought to be discharged, mumbled Uncle John, half audibly. Mexicans are stupid creatures to have around. I think we ought to take with us an experienced nurse, who is intelligent and up-to-date. Oh, I know the very one! exclaimed Beth. Mildred Travers. Shes perfectly splendid. Ive watched her with that poor girl who was hurt at the school, and shes as gentle and skillful as she is refined. Mildred would bring up that baby to be as hearty and healthful as a young savage. In the 1600s, Balthasar Gracian, a jesuit priest wrote 300 aphorisms on living life called "The Art of Worldly Wisdom." Join our newsletter below and read them all, one at a time.