UNCLE TERRY
A Story of the Maine Coast
BY CHARLES CLARK MUNN
Author of "Pocket Island"
_ILLUSTRATED BY HELENA HIGGINBOTHAM_
BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD M C M
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
_All rights reserved_
Rockwell and Churchill Press BOSTON, U.S.A.
To
THOSE WHO LOVE TO WANDER OVER GREEN MEADOWS, ALONG MIRTHFUL BROOKS, OR BENEATH FOREST TREES WHERE THE BIRDS DWELL, OR FIND CONTENT ON LONELY SHORES AND MUSIC IN THE OCEAN'S VOICE, This book is respectfully dedicated BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration: THE HOME OF UNCLE TERRY]
CONTENTS
I. A WAIF OF THE SEA
II. UNCLE TERRY
III. TWO ORPHANS
IV. A SPIDER IN HIS DEN
V. WAYS THAT ARE DARK
VI. A PUSH DOWNWARD
VII. A SERMON
VIII. A HELPING HAND
IX. SHARP PRACTICE
X. AMID THE GREEN MOUNTAINS
XI. BY THE FIRESIDE
XII. A COUNTRY SCHOOLMA'AM
XIII. SOUTHPORT ISLAND
XIV. A LEGALIZED PICKPOCKET
XV. THE VALUE OF GOOD EXAMPLE
XVI. SWEET ALICE
XVII. A BY-WAY SCHOOLHOUSE
XVIII. VILLAGE GOSSIP
XIX. PLOTS AND PLANS
XX. A PAIR OF BLUE EYES
XXI. A NEW CLIENT
XXII. UNCLE TERRY'S GUEST
XXIII. A STRANGE STORY
XXIV. A WHISPER OF THE OCEAN
XXV. THE "GYPSY" RETURNS
XXVI. THE MISER IN HIS DEN
XXVII. IN SHADY WOODS
XXVIII. WHERE THE LILIES GROW
XXIX. A FRIEND AT COURT
XXX. NEMESIS
XXXI. THE GLAD HAND
XXXII. THE DEMNITION GRIND
XXXIII. OLD AND YOUNG
XXXIV. FIRELIGHT FLASHES
XXXV. THE "WIDDER" LEACH
XXXVI. A NAMELESS COVE
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: Uncle Terry by Charles Clark Munn
- 2: Uncle Terry took off his dripping sou'wester and coat
- 3: Whom everybody called Aunt Lissy
- 4: Makin' picters comes nat'rl to the gal
- 5: The widder Leach calls me a scoffer
- 6: Unvarying in tenor as the tunes played by Mandy
- 7: Crosses the narrow Sandgate valley
- 8: For Sandgate had scant use for a lawyer
- 9: We not only owe Hobbs a good deal
- 10: We have a good many friends in Sandgate after all
- 11: Thar's a sucker born every minit
- 12: Finally Frye turned to him and asked rather abruptly Well
- 13: And Albert feeling more homesick than ever
- 14: He felt tempted to tell Frank just what Frye had said
- 15: Frye had heard various stories of the elder Nason
- 16: And what do you mean by a racket
- 17: I was out with young Nason last evening
- 18: Through your acquaintance with the Nasons
- 19: And Frye so construed it at once
- 20: ' and hearing silly brag about 'mashes
- 21: You ought to have a few months of old Frye
- 22: Albert Page had builded wiser than he knew
- 23: Frye between now and the first of the year
- 24: Separate yourself from Frye at once
- 25: Nason not to disclose their agreement to Frye
- 26: Continued Frye in a sneering tone
- 27: And then he presented himself to John Nason
- 28: Mears' remark that she held her head perty middlin' high
- 29: And I want to give Bert a welcome
- 30: You must not expect much excitement up in Sandgate
- 31: And begged me to whip him then
- 32: The unaffected cordiality of brother and sister
- 33: It was a delightful day for a sleigh ride
- 34: The next day Albert invited a little party
- 35: Said pleasantly Why so pensive
- 36: Your yacht has a very suggestive name
- 37: And when Aunt Lissy and Telly were at a neighbor's
- 38: Nothing has ever been heard of said Peterson or his wife
- 39: You an' Telly can tend the lights for a couple o' nights
- 40: He handed it to Frye with the remark That's my errand
- 41: Frye stroked his nose reflectively
- 42: Nason seldom spent an evening away from his home
- 43: And only occasionally played pool or billiards
- 44: Don't you remember sweet Alice
- 45: And pinned to the candy Frank Nason's card
- 46: That her brother also surmised the truth is quite likely
- 47: The next pupil will now answer
- 48: Alice introduced her escort to the miller
- 49: And has been grinding away ever since
- 50: And laurel and pond lilies enough to stock a flower stand
- 51: The whippoorwills had just returned to Sandgate
- 52: The first visit of Frank Nason to the Page home
- 53: Mears were observing her and drew their own conclusions
- 54: Which he intended Alice should occupy
- 55: His hands and face scratched by briers
- 56: Uncle Terry eyed him rather sharply
- 57: The elderly lady was standing at one end of it
- 58: When the meal was over Uncle Terry said
- 59: Fer speakin' the way I did regardin' lawyers in gineral
- 60: Frye and what my opinion is of him
- 61: I'll get Telly to show ye her picturs
- 62: And the direction of Uncle Terry
- 63: And Aunt Lissy and Telly met him at the door
- 64: It was an awkward position for Telly
- 65: He said to Telly after Uncle Terry had gone
- 66: And Telly insisted on decorating the boat
- 67: Lissy an' Telly know 'bout the case
- 68: And did you send these proofs to Frye
- 69: He found Telly a most charming companion
- 70: And that evening when Telly appeared
- 71: Albert and Telly arose with the rest
- 72: This weird and piteous utterance came with peculiar effect
- 73: And Albert and Telly were on their way back to the point
- 74: Did the Widder Leach make ye feel ye was a hopeless sinner
- 75: I seen ye at the meeting last night with Telly
- 76: He continued as Albert stepped aboard
- 77: And when Albert asked Telly the reason she answered quietly
- 78: Frye bought fifty thousand bushels on a margin
- 79: CHAPTER XXVIIIN SHADY WOODS Blanch Nason
- 80: Nason and his sister are coming here Monday
- 81: And as the mountain wouldn't come to Mahomet
- 82: Fearing that Alice might feel herself overshadowed
- 83: And her blue eyes sparkled with roguish intent
- 84: Without a word or even a look she arose and
- 85: Blanch put one arm caressingly around Alice and whispered
- 86: When Frank and Blanch had made a short stop at Saratoga
- 87: And Frank Nason was studying hard again
- 88: Frye set his feet hard together
- 89: September wheat now seventy one seven eighths
- 90: With pallid face and folded arms
- 91: Frye must have been either very hard up when he wrote
- 92: I smell gas coming out of the keyhole
- 93: And a complete artist's outfit for Telly
- 94: But every chord was a minor one
- 95: He was covertly watching Telly as he said this
- 96: An' only am wantin' ter see ye provided fur
- 97: How are your good wife and Telly these days
- 98: Found that the valise had disappeared
- 99: The quiet little cove in front
- 100: Feeling that Telly thought the old lady needed defending
- 101: Albert had hard work to restrain a smile
- 102: Telly an' Lissy thinks lots o' her
- 103: Is whar Telly started for shore all alone
- 104: And then Uncle Terry suddenly looked up at him
- 105: You will let me call you Telly now
- 106: Though quite expressive of her feelings
- 107: For it was there Uncle Terry first found me
- 108: But the plaintive face was turned away
- 109: Yet it hardened Alice against his mother
- 110: And you and Aunt Susan come to Boston
- 111: And be very homesick for a spell
- 112: Albert looked curiously at his sister
- 113: And unless some of the Nasons should meet us at a theatre
- 114: Observed Alice with a roguish look
- 115: And had invited the Nasons to join them
- 116: After the Nasons had rolled away in their carriage
- 117: Nason and won a regard she hardly realized then
- 118: For an hour they discussed the Nasons
- 119: She was surprised at being joined by Blanch and Frank
- 120: Blanch had replied when he broached his idea
- 121: It was not a gracefully eaten lunch
- 122: Like a scared bird anxious to escape
- 123: And how are Aunt Lissy and Telly
- 124: Aunt Lissy was the first to speak
- 125: Once more Telly hid her face behind her hands
- 126: And the altar was white with lilies