embrace; but bye and bye she escaped to get her breath, and then
her eyes fell upon the meek form holding her bundles.

"Oh, Dad," she cried, "here's Uncle John, who has come to live with
us; and if you don't love him as much as I do I'll make your life
miserable!"

"On which account," said the Major, grasping the little man's hand
most cordially, "I'll love Uncle John like my own brother. And
surely," he added, his voice falling tenderly, "my dear Violet's
brother must be my own. Welcome, sir, now and always, to our little
home. It's modest, sir; but wherever Patsy is the sun is sure to
shine."

"I can believe that," said Uncle John, with a nod and smile.

They boarded a car for the long ride up town, and as soon as they were
seated Patsy demanded the story of the Major's adventures with his
colonel, and the old fellow rattled away with the eagerness of a
boy, telling every detail in the most whimsical manner, and finding
something humorous in every incident.

"Oh, but it was grand, Patsy!" he exclaimed, "and the Colonel wept on
my neck when we parted and stained the collar of me best coat, and he
give me a bottle of whiskey that would make a teetotaler roll his eyes
in ecstacy. 'Twas the time of my life."

"And you're a dozen years younger, Major!" she cried, laughing, "and
fit to dig into work like a pig in clover."

His face grew grave.

"But how about the money, Patsy dear?" he asked. "Did you get nothing
out of Jane Merrick's estate?"

"Not a nickle, Dad. 'Twas the best joke you ever knew. I fought with
Aunt Jane like a pirate and it quite won her heart. When she died she
left me all she had in the world."

"Look at that, now!" said the Major, wonderingly.

"Which turned out to be nothing at all," continued Patsy. "For another
will was found, made by Mr. Thomas Bradley, which gave the money to
his own nephew after Aunt Jane died. Did you ever?"

"Wonderful!" said the Major, with a sigh.

"So I was rich for half a day, and then poor as ever."

"It didn't hurt you, did it?" asked the Major. "You weren't vexed with
disappointment, were you, Patsy?"

"Not at all, Daddy."

"Then don't mind it, child. Like as not the money would be the
ruination of us all. Eh, sir?" appealing to Uncle John.

"To be sure," said the little man. "Jane left five thousand to me,
also, which I didn't get. But I'm not sorry at all."

"Quite right, sir," approved the Major, sympathetically, "although
it's easier not to