“Of course, my friends here know better than to believe any such scandalous tales about me!” replied Uncle Ben, looking at his brother as if to dare him to tease any more.
The children always enjoyed these make-believe quarrels between the two brothers, and Ned generally egged them on. To-day, however, he was too eager to hear about the trip to the city and so urged Uncle Ben to finish the story.
“We found the machinery that I think you can best use here, and had it prepared for shipment. Just as we were leaving the store-room a man came down with a load of type.
“‘Where are you taking that?’ I asked him.
“‘Boss said to send it off to be melted down,’ replied the man.
“‘Just leave it on top of this packing case—I’ll see that it is taken care of,’ I told him, and he did as I said.
“Now, boys, all of that type is coming out here for you to work with. I had it charged to my account at the office, for it was a ‘big find’ to get hold of some type just at the time we needed it,” concluded Uncle Ben, taking a long breath of relief.
“And now, I’ll tell you of all the things Uncle Ben forgot to mention,” laughed Mr. Talmage.
“When we left the stock-room and went to his office, he picked up the telephone and called up more friends than I ever thought he knew. Two or three of them were invited to lunch with us, and the others were told about the wonderful work the Oakdale children were planning. Every one of his friends was told to help along or suggest some way to boost the magazine. Of course, they had to promise.”
Uncle Ben chuckled to himself as his brother told about the telephone experiences.