AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
CHAPTER XVI
THE LODGING AT SPOTVILLE
"Wake up, Patsy: I smell coffee!" called Beth, and
soon the two girls
were dressed and assisting Myrtle to complete her
toilet. Through the
open windows came the cool, fragrant breath of
morning; the sky was
beginning to blush at the coming of the sun.
"To think of our getting up at such unearthly
hours!" cried Patsy
cheerfully. "But I don't mind it in the least, Beth;
do you?"
"I love the daybreak," returned Beth, softly. "We've
wasted the best
hours of morning abed, Patsy, these many years."
"But there's a difference," said Myrtle, earnestly.
"I know the
daybreak in the city very well, for nearly all my
life I have had to
rise in the dark in order to get my breakfast and be
at work on time.
It is different from this, I assure you; especially
in winter, when
the chill strikes through to your bones. Even in
summer time the air
of the city is overheated and close, and the early
mornings cheerless
and uncomfortable. Then I think it is best to stay
in bed as long as
you can--if you have nothing else to do. But here,
out in the open, it
seems a shame not to be up with the birds to breathe
the scent of the
fields and watch the sun send his heralds ahead of
him to proclaim his
coming and then climb from the bottomless pit into
the sky and take
possession of it."
"Why, Myrtle!" exclaimed Patsy, wonderingly; "what a
poetic notion.
How did it get into your head, little one?"
Myrtle's sweet face rivaled the sunrise for a
moment. She made no
reply but only smiled pathetically.
Uncle John's knock upon the door found them ready
for breakfast, which
old Dan'l had skilfully prepared in the tiny kitchen
and now placed
upon a round table set out upon the porch. By the
time they had
finished the simple meal Wampus had had his coffee
and prepared the
automobile for the day's journey. A few minutes
later they said
good-bye to the aged musician and took the trail
that led through
Spotville.
The day's trip was without event. They encountered
one or two Indians
on the way, jogging slowly along on their shaggy
ponies; but the
creatures were mild and inoffensive. The road was
fairly good and
they made excellent time, so that long before
twilight Spotville
was reached and the party had taken possession of
the one small and
primitive "hotel" the place afforded. It was a
two-story, clapboarded
building, the lower floor being devoted to the bar
and dining room,
while the second story was divided into box-like
bedrooms none too
clean and very cheaply furnished.
"I imagine we shall find this place 'the limit',"
remarked Uncle John
ruefully. "But surely we shall be able to stand it
for one night," he
added, with a philosophic sigh.
"Want meat fer supper?" asked the landlord, a tall,
gaunt man who
considered himself dressed when he was in his shirt
sleeves.
"What kind of meat?" inquired Uncle John,
cautiously.
"Kin give yeh fried pork er jerked beef. Ham 'a all
out an' the
chickens is beginnin' to lay."
"Eggs?"
"Of course, stranger. Thet's the on'y thing
Spotville chickens lay,
nowadays. I s'pose whar yeh come from they lay
biscuits 'n' pork
chops."
"No. Door knobs, sometimes," said Mr. Merrick, "but
seldom pork chops.
Let's have eggs, and perhaps a little fried pork to
go with them. Any
milk?"
"Canned er fresh?"
"Fresh preferred."
The landlord looked at him steadily.
"Yeh've come a long-way, stranger," he said, "an'
yeh must 'a' spent a
lot of money, here 'n' there. Air yeh prepared to
pay fer thet order
in solid cash?"
Uncle John seemed startled, and looked at the Major,
who smiled
delightedly.
"Are such things expensive, sir?" the latter asked
the landlord.
"Why, we don't eat 'em ourselves, 'n' thet's a cold
fact. Eggs is
eggs, an' brings forty cents a dozen to ship.
There's seven cows
in town, 'n' forty-one babies, so yeh kin figger
what fresh milk's
worth."
"Perhaps," said Uncle John mildly, "we can stand the
expense--if we
won't rob the babies."
"Don't worry 'bout thet. The last autymobble folks
as come this way
got hot because I charged 'em market prices fer the
truck they et. So
I'm jest inquirin' beforehand, to save hard
feelin's. I've found out
one thing 'bout autymobble folks sense I've ben
runnin' this hoe-tel,
an' thet is thet a good many is ownin' machines thet
oughter be payin'
their bills instid o' buyin' gasoline."
The Major took him aside. He did not tell the
cautious landlord that
Mr. Merrick was one of the wealthiest men in
America, but he exhibited
a roll of bills that satisfied the man his demands
would be paid in
full.
The touring; party feasted upon eggs and fresh milk,
both very
delicious but accompanied by odds and ends of food
not so palatable.
The landlord's two daughters, sallow, sunken cheeked
girls, waited on
the guests and the landlord's wife did the cooking.
Beth, Patsy and Myrtle retired early, as did Uncle
John. The Major,
smoking his "bedtime cigar," as he called it,
strolled out into the
yard and saw Wampus seated in the automobile, also
smoking.
"We get an early start to-morrow, Wampus," said the
Major. "Better get
to bed."
"Here is my bed," returned the chauffeur, quietly.
"But there's a room reserved for you in the hotel."
"I know. Don't want him. I sleep me here."
The Major looked at him reflectively.
"Ever been in this town before, Wampus?" he asked.
"No, sir. But I been in other towns like him, an'
know this kind of
hotel. Then why do I sleep in front seat of motor
car?"
"Because you are foolish, I suppose, being born that
way and unable
to escape your heritage. For my part, I shall sleep
in a bed; like a
Christian," said the Major rather testily.
"Even Christian cannot sleep sometime," returned
Wampus, leaning back
in his seat and puffing a cloud of smoke into the
clear night air.
"For me, I am good Christian; but I am not martyr."
"What do you mean by that?" demanded the Major.
"Do you sometime gamble?" inquired Wampus softly.
"Not often, sir."
"But sometime? Ah! Then I make you a bet. I bet you
ten dollar to one
cent you not sleep in your bed to-night."
The Major coughed. Then he frowned.
"Is it so bad as that?" he asked.
"I think he is."
"I'll not believe it!" exclaimed Major Doyle. "This
hotel isn't what
you might call first-class, and can't rank with the
Waldorf-Astoria;
but I imagine the beds will be very comfortable."
"Once," said Wampus, "I have imagination, too. Now I
have experience;
so I sleep in automobile."
The Major walked away with an exclamation of
impatience. He had never
possessed much confidence in the Canadian's judgment
and on this
occasion he considered the fellow little wiser than
a fool.
Wampus rolled himself in a rug and was about to
stretch his moderate
length upon the broad double seat when a pattering
of footsteps was
heard and Beth came up to the car. She was wrapped
in a dark cloak
and carried a bundle of clothing under one arm and
her satchel in the
unoccupied hand. There was a new moon which dimly
lighted the scene,
but as all the townspeople were now in bed and the
hotel yard deserted
there was no one to remark upon the girl's
appearance.
"Wampus," she said, "let me into the limousine,
please. The night is
so perfect I've decided to sleep here in the car."
The chauffeur jumped down and opened the door.
"One moment an' I make up the beds for all," he
said.
"Never mind that," Beth answered. "The others are
all asleep, I'm
sure."
Wampus shook his head.
"They all be here pretty soon," he predicted, and
proceeded to deftly
prepare the interior of the limousine for the
expected party. When
Beth had entered the car Wampus pitched the lean-to
tent and arranged
the cots as he was accustomed to do when they
"camped out."
Scarcely had he completed this task when Patsy and
Myrtle appeared.
They began to explain their presence, but Wampus
interrupted them,
saying:
"All right, Miss Patsy an' Miss Myrtle. Your beds he
made up an' Miss
'Lizbeth already asleep in him."
So they crept inside with sighs of relief, and
Wampus had just mounted
to the front seat again and disposed himself to rest
when Uncle John
trotted up, clad in his trousers and shirt, with the
balance of his
apparel clasped in his arms. He looked at the tent
with pleased
approval.
"Good boy, Wampus!" he exclaimed. "That room they
gave me is an
inferno. I'm afraid our young ladies won't sleep a
wink."
"Oh, yes," returned Wampus with a nod; "all three
now inside car, safe
an' happy."
"I'm glad of it. How was your own room, Wampus?"
"I have not seen him, sir. But I have suspect him;
so I sleep here."
"You are a wise chauffeur--a rare genus, in other
words. Good night,
Wampus. Where's the Major?"
Wampus chuckled.
"In hotel. Sir, do the Major swear sometime?"
Uncle John crept under the tent.
"If he does," he responded, "he's swearing this
blessed minute.
Anyhow, I'll guarantee he's not asleep."
Wampus again mounted to his perch.
"No use my try to sleep 'til Major he come," he
muttered, and settled
himself to wait.
It was not long.
Presently some one approached on a run, and a broad
grin overspread
the chauffeur's features. The Major had not delayed
his escape long
enough to don his trousers even; he had grabbed his
belongings in both
arms and fled in his blue and white striped
undergarments.
Wampus leaped down and lifted the flap of the tent.
The Major paused
long enough in the moonlight to stare at the
chauffeur and say
sternly:
"If you utter one syllable, you rascal, I'll punch
your head!"
Wampus was discreet. He said not a word.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
 
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