Evening star., 1922-08-13
Uncle Nels as q Pll.nger

dollar'n thirty-five for that rake Dunk
broke the handle off from last week:
And / bet I can sharpen up the scythe
SO he can NOW the orchard with it,
''Also." says ], 81 suppose we might
want to fail out some beans some
time"
"Sure." says Cncle Nels. you can't
tell when any Of them things will come
in handy
With that he bores into the crowd
again, a flicker of fun in his old eyes
and il wasn't five minutes later that |
heard him bidding on a quaint looking
two-wheeled affair that ! didn't even
know the name Of. He got it. too, at
sl.25. and came running it out tri-
umphant, pulling the thing from be-
| tween the shafts.
I'm the name of Ceres. what's that
asks Barry, staring at it.
Hay tedder.' says Uncle NeIs.
Ought to have one on every farm.
and I got it cheap"
THE old boy has gone funny in the
head" whispers Barry TO me- IL think
we ought to get him away from here"
But about then Squire Sweat was
flourishing an ancient coffee pot and
asking for bids.
Look" says Barry. Pewter. Say.
isn't that bully design? And only
IS cents bid so far. I'm going te have
try for that. Trilby May"
GO 1t was Barry who pushed in next,
and although the price was boosted
to nearly 50 he hung on and finally
came back hugging 1t to his chest
Real old English pewter" says he
See the hall mark on the bottom? And
you'd pay three times that in one OF
those Park Avenue shops. It'r look
corking on that old sideboard OF yours.
eh: There's some blue willow ware
that's coming up pretty soon. too
mean to get one of those big platters
If I can
Really" says l. Looks like the
bug had bitten you. too. Barry. Now
| l have my eye on one of those old ma
hogany framed mirrors, with a painted
glass panel in one end. See. It's being
passed UP now
But l wasn't the only one who'd
noticed that mirror. Two dealers. all
| Of the gift shop ladies' and half A
dozen of the summer colony folks
| wanted the same thing. I stuck in
i until the bidding reached SIS and then
l dropped out. Half an hour later
though. / tried again, and this time
| landed one almost as good at half tha
sum.
| What finally got Inez into the gam.
was Paisley shawl that had probabl,
] been slowed away in the attic for two
or three generations. She and a double
| chinned old lady in a limousine had
quite battle over the shawl but Inez
simply glared At her and went on bid
| ding until she won out
| But. Inez." protested. Isn't that
quite lot to pay for an old shawl"
Would I let that old cat get il
away from me- says Inez "Itu make
| un into swell wrap, too. You wait
So. almost before we realized il.
/ we were all plunging wildly into the
bidding. 1t does go to your head.
! you know. and ! expect the squire
was rather clever at letting US have
! real bargain now and then. only
! to keep US raising each other on
! other articles. Anyway. we no longer
| hung on the fringe of the crowd. We
i pressed in close to the platform, and
when anything we wanted was put
up We went to it strong. lost all
| track of what the others were buy
| ing. I was too busy picking out what
needed for different rooms And
| among the prizes ! got away with
were half a dozen fiddle back chairs.
a four-poster bed. mahogany
| table with a Tyre base. and a stun
| ing old painted rocker with a tall
back and comb top. One or two
items I got fairly cheap. but for the
/, others I had to pay reasonable
! price. Still. it was a thrilling game.
| and l got so stirred up over il that
| not until the sale was over did 7
stop to take a glance at the pile of
| stun which Hen had stored for me
| under an apple tree.
GONE loot" says / to Inez We
~ never can get all that in the car.
so I might as well hunt up Uncle
| Nels and tell him to hire a truck
! somewhere. incidentally I'm afraid
he'll have to sign quite a sizable
check
II got some things, too," says Inez.
And Barry. he's got more. But
! here's Uncle Nels."
He was coming toward US with a
swagger and ] noticed that he was
wearing a long cigar in one mouth
corner. Say, you oughta see all the
things I get" says he. Cheap. too.
Gomez
At which we followed him to the
| rear of the house and there he points
out heap that would almost fill a
van. There were hoes and piows,
| and an old horse rake. and a corn
cutter. and most of q double harness,
and I don't know what else.
Good night" says !. How are
we ever going to get all that junk
home? We have lot, too. you know.
But why the harness Uncle Nels?"