Uncle Rutherford's Nieces A Story for Girls   By: Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews (1849-1901)

UNCLE RUTHERFORD'S NIECES

A STORY FOR GIRLS

By

JOANNA H. MATHEWS

Author of "The Bessie Books," "Uncle Rutherford's Attic," "Breakfast for Two," etc.

"For ruling wisely I should have small skill, Were I not lord of simple Dara still."

WITH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES & BROTHER 1888

Copyright, 1888, By FREDERICK A. STOKES & BROTHER.

DEDICATED TO

HERBERT HUNT, WITH LOVING AND BEST WISHES FOR HIS FUTURE YEARS, ON HIS BIRTHDAY,

AUGUST 6, 1888.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I. AN ARITHMETICAL PUZZLE 7

CHAPTER II. A CABLEGRAM 27

CHAPTER III. AN ARRIVAL 47

CHAPTER IV. "FOOD FOR THE GODS" 71

CHAPTER V. THE "MORNING BUGLE" 89

CHAPTER VI. UNCLE RUTHERFORD'S PRIZE 107

CHAPTER VII. TWO PEANUT VENDERS 129

CHAPTER VIII. NOT ON THE PROGRAMME 151

CHAPTER IX. MATTY 173

CHAPTER X. A COLD BATH 195

CHAPTER XI. FIVE DOLLARS 219

CHAPTER XII. CAUGHT IN THE ACT 241

CHAPTER XIII. MATTY IS PROVIDED FOR 261

CHAPTER XIV. JIM'S CONFESSION 285

UNCLE RUTHERFORD'S NIECES

CHAPTER I.

AN ARITHMETICAL PUZZLE.

A sunny and a dark head, both bent over a much befigured, much besmeared slate, the small brows beneath the curls puckered, the one in perplexity, the other with sympathy; opposite these two a third head whose carrotty hue betrayed it to be Jim's, although the face appertaining thereto was hidden from my view, as its owner, upon his hands and knees, also peered with interest at the slate. Wanderer, familiarly known as "Wand," the household dog, and the inseparable companion of my little sisters, lay at their feet, as they sat upon a low rustic seat, manufactured for their special behoof by the devoted Jim; its chief characteristic being a tendency to upset, unless the occupant or occupants maintained the most exact balance, a seat not to be depended upon by the unwary or uninitiated, under penalty of a disagreeable surprise. To Allie and Daisy, however, it was a work of art, and left nothing to be desired, they having become accustomed to its vagaries.

Such was the picture which presented itself to my view as I came out on the piazza of our summer home by the sea, and from that point of vantage looked down upon the little group on the lawn below.

But the problem upon which all three were intent had evidently proved too much for the juvenile arithmeticians; and, as I looked, Allie pushed the slate impatiently from her, saying,

"I can't make it out, Jim: it's too hard. You are too mixed up."

"Now, Miss Allie! an' you with lessons every day," said Jim reproachfully. "Should think you might make it out."

"I'm not so very grown up, Jim," answered the little girl; "and I've not gone so very far in the 'rithmetic; and I'm sure this kind of a sum must be in the very back part of the book."