Aunt Janes Nieces and Uncle John | Page 5

grinned. Uncle John, aroused, sat up and found the puppy rolling
on the floor and fighting the handkerchief as if it had been some deadly
foe.
"Thank goodness," sighed the Major. "The little black rascal has
providently prevented you from evolving another idea."
"Not so," responded Mr. Merrick amiably. "I've thought the thing all
out, and completed our programme."
"Is it still to be California?" anxiously inquired Patsy.
"Of course. I can't give up the sunshine and roses, you know. But we
won't bore the Major by four solid days of railway travel. We'll break
the journey, and take two or three weeks to it--perhaps a month."
"Conquering Caesar! A month!" ejaculated the old soldier, a desperate
look on his face.
"Yes. Listen, both of you. We'll get to Chicago in a night and a day. We
will stop off there and visit the stockyards, and collect a few squeals for
souvenirs."
"No, we won't!" declared Patsy, positively.
"We might sell Mumbles to some Chicago sausage factory," remarked
the Major, "but not for two whole dollars. He wouldn't make more than
half a pound at twenty cents the pound."
"There are other sights to be seen in Chicago," continued Uncle John.
"Anyhow, we'll stop off long enough to get rested. Then on to Denver
and Pike's Peak."
"That sounds good," said Patsy.
"At Denver," said Uncle John, "we will take a touring car and cross the
mountains in it. There are good roads all the way from there to

California."
"Who told you so?" demanded the Major.
"No one. It's a logical conclusion, for I've lived in the West and know
the prairie roads are smoother than boulevards. However, Haggerty told
me the other day that he has made the trip from Denver to Los Angeles
by automobile, and what others can do, we can do."
"It will be glorious!" prophesied Patsy, delightedly.
The Major looked grave, but could find no plausible objection to offer.
He really knew nothing about the West and had never had occasion to
consider such a proposition before.
"We'll talk to Haggerty," he said. "But you must remember he's a
desperate liar, John, and can't be trusted as a guidepost. When do you
intend to start?"
"Why not to-morrow?" asked Uncle John mildly.
Even Patsy demurred at this.
"Why, we've got to get ready, Uncle," she said. "And who's going? Just
we three?"
"We will take Beth along, of course." Beth was Elizabeth De Graf,
another niece. "But Beth is fortunately the sort of girl who can pull up
stakes and move on at an hour's notice."
"Beth is always ready for anything," agreed Patsy. "But if we are going
to a warm climate we will need summer clothes."
"You can't lug many clothes in a motor car," observed the Major.
"No; but we can ship them on ahead."
"Haggerty says," remarked Uncle John, "that you won't need thin
clothes until you get out to California. In fact, the mountain trip is

rather cool. But it's perpetual sunshine, you know, even there, with
brisk, keen air; and the whole journey, Haggerty says, is one of
absolute delight."
"Who is Haggerty?" asked Patsy.
"A liar," answered the Major, positively.
"He's a very good fellow whom we sometimes meet in the city," said
Uncle John. "Haggerty is on the Board, and director in a bank or two,
and quite respectable. But the Major--"
"The Major's going to California just to prove that Haggerty can't speak
the truth," observed that gentleman, tersely heading off any threatened
criticism. "I see there is no opposing your preposterous scheme, John,
so we will go with you and make the best of it. But I'm sure it's all a sad
mistake. What else did Haggerty tell you?"
"He says it's best to pick up a motor car and a chauffeur in Denver,
rather than ship them on from here. There are plenty of cars to be had,
and men who know every inch of the road."
"That seems sensible," declared Patsy, "and we won't lose time waiting
for our own car to follow by freight. I think, Uncle John, I can be ready
by next Tuesday."
"Why, to-morrow's Saturday!" gasped the Major. "The business--"
"Cut the business off short," suggested his brother-in-law. "You've to
cut it somewhere, you know, or you'll never get away; and, as it's my
business, I hereby authorize you to neglect it from this moment until
the day of our return. When we get back you can pick up the details
again and worry over it as much as you please."
"Will we ever get back?" asked the Major, doubtingly.
"If we don't, the business won't matter."
"That's the idea," cried Patsy, approvingly. "Daddy has worked hard all

summer, Uncle John, looking after that annoying money of yours, and a
vacation