“I wonder when Mr. Richards will get that story printed in the papers—that will help so much!” sighed Betty.
“Don’t be impatient, little girl,” said Mrs. Talmage. “Remember, we have only just begun, and I think there have been marvelous steps taken.”
“And when it once gets started, the subscription list will grow very rapidly,” added Aunt Selina.
And so it proved. In a few weeks’ time the letters containing checks and money orders for subscriptions reached such proportions that Mrs. Talmage was distracted trying to attend properly to the clerical work. Mr. Talmage saw that it was such tiresome application to detail that he telephoned Uncle Ben to send out a competent filing clerk; in a few days a nice young girl of about eighteen arrived and took charge of all the mail, and Mrs. Talmage heaved a deep sigh of relief.
Uncle Ben had made it a custom to visit his brother’s family every week-end since the inception of the magazine, and one Saturday he arrived unusually early—in time for lunch.
“Ned, can you call a meeting of the B. B. & B. B.’s at the Publishing House for two o’clock?” asked Uncle Ben.
“The Bobolinks will be there anyway, but I am not so sure about the Blue Birds,” said Ned, looking at Ruth.
“We had something to talk over in the Winter Nest, but we can postpone it until afterward,” said Ruth.
So at two o’clock all of the children were gathered about Uncle Ben to hear the news he had to tell them.
Uncle Ben made a great fuss clearing his throat as if in preparation for an oration, then took a packet of letters from his pocket.