her 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.

"Now, we come to the time when this crafty uncle of yours met his
friends at lunch. What do you think his plot was? Well, just listen and
I will tell you," and Mr. Talmage nodded his head warningly at his
brother.

"One of his guests was Mr. Connell, the man that owns one of the largest
engraving plants in the city. This Uncle Ben told his story in such an
engaging way that that business man actually offered to turn out the
plates you needed for the magazine at actual cost for several months. We
all know what that means--several hundred dollars on the credit side of
the ledger."

All eyes were turned toward Uncle Ben for confirmation of the great
offer, and he nodded his head smilingly.

"One of the best business advisers I know in New York said that he
thought you children had an unusually good idea for a successful
business investment, and hoped that you would keep it up until you were
adults and saw the financial benefit in it," said