Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1905-07-21

of the few places Jack Hardcastle had
not visited, so, forgetting all about his
plans for Eric, he said he would come,
too. There was no bother about pack
ing, for he had only arrived the day
before from sydney, ana mad not IN
packed yet; SO at dawn the next morn
Ing this globe-trotter and his crony
started .or Buenos Ayres, and poor
Eric was forgotten. The young fell
low was practically alone in the world,
and If it had not been for little Maisie,
his boyhood's sweetheart, would have
refused the fairly good clerkship in
and lived the life of an idle man on
the very slender income his parents
had left him, and the prospects Of help
from his rich, eccentric uncle.
They had been married nearly a
year now, and two happier people
never lived out of paradise; but their
income was only a small one, and there
were prospects of another little mouth
to feed. They had never quite given
up hope that in the nick Of time the
eccentric uncle would turn up like the
godmother in the fairy story, and now
had come this awful, ill-written letter,
saying he had twin boys, and nc men
ton of his wife-he probably forgot
to mention she was dead. Maisie
spread it out upon the table, and once
more deciphered as much as she could,
practically spelling out each symbol.
"'Tm bringing over my two lovely
twin boys; you will be delighted with
them; they're the image of Rose q
suppose that is his wife). "They yell
a good deal at night-all boys do, but
you can rig them up out of the way
where they will disturb no one.'
'Oh, Eric, how can we find room for
them allT"
Twin boys? 1t looks to me like
twin frogs l never saw such writ
ing. caesar and Brutus! Did you
ever hear such names for children?
They're heather names, too. Awful!'
And then Maisie gave a faint shrek
as she looked at the envelope, for it
had been posted, not In Sydney, but
in London! True to his eccentric in
stincts, Hardcastle had thought, as he
intended to come over, and as the next
vessel would carry the mails, includ-
ing his letter, he might just as well
bring the letter over In his pocket and
post it in town..
| I'VE must prepare a room for a pos
sible wife and nurse, and we shall
want a wee bed for the twins, Eric
And, quite unconsciously, the little
woman glanced toward a wee bed
which was being prepared for another
| little tenant, and there was an ex,
preston on her face which made Eric
bend over her and kiss her.
They turned out of their own room
to make room for Lord and Lady
Hardcastle, hired a wee bed, and placed
| it with a bed for the nurse in the
l dressing room. Eric flew out and or
dered unheard-of luxuries, and had
scarcely returned when a carriage
drove up.
Maisie was sitting in the drawing
room, eight feet by eight, trying tc
, look dignifed, and Eric himself wen
J.. to the door. He hesitated for a mo
ment to open the had preceded theil
little servant-and, ere turning tn,
= handle, heard:
You a 90 back to town, John, o.
). whatever your name is, and take tn,
twins-why, where the devil are tn,
g stablesT
q Now, there are nc stables in Pal
myra Villa-far from it.
O And then Eric opened the door. A
n little man al brown as a berry, a,
n hard as nails all over, with gray hal,
q and eyes, and an alert look, was Jacl
@ Hardcastle. He did not attempt t
# shake hands. Small as he was, h,
# seemed to fill the narrow hall.
"Well, young man, what have 70,
to say for yourself?"
y II am glad to see you, uncle"
"Of course, Of course-only natural
but do you mean to say that on fv,
IT hundred a year you can't occupy
lie larger dog-kennel than thisT"