Aunt Janes Nieces on Vacation

Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation

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Title: Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation
Author: Edith Van Dyne
Release Date: November 12, 2003 [EBook #10059]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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JANE'S NIECES ON VACATION ***

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AUNT JANE'S NIECES ON VACATION
BY
EDITH VAN DYNE
1912

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
THE HOBO AT CHAZY JUNCTION II THE INVASION OF
MILLVILLE III THE DAWN OF A GREAT ENTERPRISE IV THE
WAY INTO PRINT V DIVIDING THE RESPONSIBILITIES VI MR.
SKEELTY OF THE MILL VII THE SKETCH ARTIST VIII THE
Millville Daily Tribune IX TROUBLE X THURSDAY SMITH XI
THE HONER'BLE OJOY BOGLIN XII MOLLY SIZER'S PARTY
XIII BOB WEST INTERFERES XIV THE DANCER SIGNAL XV A
CLEVER IDEA XVI LOCAL CONTRIBUTORS XVII THE
PENALTIES OF JOURNALISM XVIII OPEN WARFARE XIX A
MERE MATTER OF REVENGE XX DEFENDING THE PRESS XXI
THE COMING OF FOGERTY XXII UNMASKED XXIII THE
JOURNALISTS ABDICATE XXIV A CHEERFUL BLUNDER
CHAPTER I
THE HOBO AT CHAZY JUNCTION
Mr. Judkins, the station agent at Chazy Junction, came out of his little
house at daybreak, shivered a bit in the chill morning air and gave an
involuntary start as he saw a private car on the sidetrack. There were
two private cars, to be exact--a sleeper and a baggage car--and Mr.
Judkins knew the three o'clock train must have left them as it passed
through.
"Ah," said he aloud; "the nabobs hev arrove."
"Who are the nabobs?" asked a quiet voice beside him.
Again Mr. Judkins started; he even stepped back a pace to get a better
view of the stranger, who had approached so stealthily through the dim

light that the agent was unaware of his existence until he spoke.
"Who be you?" he demanded, eyeing the man suspiciously.
"Never mind who I am," retorted the other in a grumpy tone; "the
original question is 'who are the nabobs?'"
"See here, young feller; this ain't no place fer tramps," observed Mr.
Judkins, frowning with evident displeasure; "Chazy Junction's got all it
kin do to support its reg'lar inhabitants. You'll hev to move on."
The stranger sat down on a baggage truck and eyed the private car
reflectively. He wore a rough gray suit, baggy and threadbare, a flannel
shirt with an old black tie carelessly knotted at the collar, a brown felt
hat with several holes in the crown, and coarse cowhide shoes that had
arrived at the last stages of usefulness. You would judge him to be from
twenty-five to thirty years of age; you would note that his face was
browned from exposure, that it was rather set and expressionless but in
no way repulsive. His eyes, dark and retrospective, were his most
redeeming feature, yet betrayed little of their owner's character. Mr.
Judkins could make nothing of the fellow, beyond the fact that he was
doubtless a "tramp" and on that account most unwelcome in this retired
neighborhood.
Even tramps were unusual at Chazy Junction. The foothills were
sparsely settled and the inhabitants too humble to be attractive to
gentlemen of the road, while the rocky highways, tortuous and uneven,
offered no invitation to the professional pedestrian.
"You'll hev to move on!" repeated the agent, more sternly.
"I can't," replied the other with a smile. "The car I was--er--attached to
has come to a halt. The engine has left us, and--here we are, I and the
nabobs."
"Be'n ridin' the trucks, eh?"
"No; rear platform. Very comfortable it was, and no interruptions. The

crazy old train stopped so many times during the night that I scarcely
woke up when they sidetracked us here, and the first thing I knew I was
abandoned in this wilderness. As it grew light I began to examine my
surroundings, and discovered you. Glad to meet you, sir."
"You needn't be."
"Don't begrudge me the pleasure, I implore you. I can't blame you for
being gruff and unsociable; were you otherwise you wouldn't reside
at--at--" he turned his head to read the half legible sign on the station
house, "at Chazy Junction. I'm familiar with most parts of the United
States, but Chazy Junction gets my flutters. Why, oh, why in the world
did it happen?"
Mr. Judkins scowled but made no answer. He was wise enough to
understand he was no match in conversation for this irresponsible
outcast who knew the great world as perfectly as the agent knew his