and was at least three times as heavy as any
of those in the Jack-o'-Lantern. On the top of the mass was perched a
little old man in a skull cap, a slippered foot in a scarlet sock airily
waving at one side. A bright green coil closely clutched in his withered
hands was the bed cord appertaining to the bed--a sainted possession from
which its owner sternly refused to part.

"By Jove!" shouted Dick; "it's Uncle Israel and his crib!"

Paying no heed to the assembled group, Uncle Israel dismounted nimbly
enough, and directed the men to take his bed upstairs, which they did,
while Harlan and Dorothy stood by helplessly. Here, under his profane and
involved direction, the structure was finally set in place, even to the
patchwork quilt, fearfully and wonderfully made, which surmounted it all.

Financial settlement was waved aside by Uncle Israel as a matter in which
he was not interested, and it was Dick who counted out two dimes and a
nickel to secure peace. A supplementary procession appeared with a small,
weather-beaten trunk, a folding bath-cabinet, and a huge case which, from
Uncle Israel's perturbation, evidently contained numerous fragile articles
of great value.

"Tell Ebeneezer," wheezed the newcomer, "that I have arrived."

"Ebeneezer," replied Dick, in wicked imitation of the old man's asthmatic
speech, "has been dead for some time."

"Then," creaked Uncle Israel, waving a tremulous, bony hand suggestively
toward the door, "kindly leave me alone with my grief."

X

Still More

Uncle Israel, whose other name was Skiles, adjusted himself to his grief
in short order. The sounds which issued from his room were not those
commonly associated with mourning. Dick, fully accustomed to various
noises, explained them for the edification of the Carrs, who at present
were sorely in need of edification.

"That's the bath cabinet," remarked Mr. Chester, with the air of a
connoisseur. "He's setting it up near enough to the door so that if
anybody should come in unexpectedly while it's working, the whole thing
will be tipped over and the house set on fire. Uncle Israel won't have any
lock or bolt on his door for fear he should die in the night. He relies
wholly on the bath cabinet and moral suasion. Nobody knocks on doors here,
anyway--just goes in.

"That's his trunk. He keeps it under the window. The bed is set up first,
then the bath cabinet, then the trunk, and last, but not least, the
medicine chest. He ke