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The Honorable Uncle Lancy
By ETHEL HUESTON
0 Bobbt-Mtfrlll Ca, WNU S«rvte«
CHAPTER XVl—Continued
-17-
Aunt Olympia was back In bed
i first, whiling away the time with a
little work on her under-chin, but
the Senator was not long behind
her
| “I’m not even going to shave,"
lhe said cheerfully. “Thank God
'M’s over.”
“To tell the truth, It’s a great re
lief to me, Del," she said bravely.
i**Your business is your own and if
iyou wanted to be senator, why, it
fvas your say-so. But personally I’ve
had enough and I’m glad to be out
a i it so we can live our own life
for a while.”
"We’d better have some coffee,”
i«aid the Senator.
Hilda answered the ring with sus
facious alacrity. On the tray, with
a big pot of coffee, was fresh fruit
and a small covered plate of hot
anuffins.
"You may need sustainment,” she
•aid grimly.
She gave the Senator a severe
kok. “Mr. Allen came about two
o'clock with a dozen more hungry
politicians for me to feed and with
hlobs of blood around his nose and a
;»ery black eye for which I offered
“I’m not even going to shave.”
Um a beefsteak and he asked me
lo fry it, please, and took another
the same.”
"A bloody nose?” gasped the Sen
ator.
"A black eye I" ejaculated Aunt
Olympia.
"It seems he hit the leg of a
bench as he went down but giving
the Senator the credit,” said Hilda
reprovingly. “Anyhow they ate all
the steaks and are now working on
the ham and eggs.”
Beneath her arm, in direct defi
ance of orders, Hilda bore a huge
«tack of morning papers.
Olympia frowned at sight of them.
"I said coffee and nothing but cof
fee and by all means none of those
filthy sheets that are a profanation
to the holy Sabbath.”
. Hilda laid the papers on the foot
of Olympia’s bed and arranged the
tray on a small table between them.
Her expression disturbed Aunt
Olympia. In anybody else, it would
have been definitely pleasurable; in
Hilda, it was merely sardonic.
"I thought you might like a look
«t the pictures anyhow,” she said.
"And besides, I had to get them out
of my way downstairs, cluttering
I Brings up, with politicians all over
the place.”
"How are the girls?” asked Un
cle Lancy diplomatically.
"They are all right—what I seen
of them,” she added, with dour sig
nificance.
"You should have been at the ral-
said Aunt Olympia, with a
twinge that would have done jus
tice to a toothache. “You’d have
•een plenty of them.”
Hilda moved toward the door. “I
got to go now,” she said. "I been
giving coffee and doughnuts and
boiled eggs to reporters and camera
men for four hours. Mr. Cooper
and Mr. Dodd and the boys worked
all night and the telephone’s been
ringin’ steady since six o’clock and
they sent to town for more stenogra
phers to take the messages.”
Aunt Olympia swallowed hard.
She looked at the Senator. He was
gazing at his coffee. Obliged to say
something, she said faintly, "Oh,
yes. From—the constituents.”
"From everybody I ever heard of
so far and some I ain’t. We ain’t
■opened the telegrams yet. No time.
We put them in the potato basket.
I’m boiling the potatoes to make
salad for everybody that’ll be com
ing before the day’s over. I’m boil
ing another ham, too.”
Aunt Olympia groaned and closed
her eyes. She waved feebly for
Hilda to go away.
Hilda paused once more.
"Seems as if to me the girls did
all right for theirselves,” she re
marked cryptically and closed the
door behind her.
Aunt Olympia did not open her
ayes until she could hear Hilda
creaking downstairs.
"After election, I’m going to fire
lhat idiot,” she said bitterly. “I
Aoa't mim* her not being able to
speak English, but she might at
least make a little sense in some
language!”
“Try one of these muffins, my
dear,” said the Senator. “Piping
hot! Hilda’s muffins make sense in
any language.”
Aunt Olympia, feeling dulled and
bruised, mechanically set her teeth
into a muffin. It was all right. Her
eyes wandered to the pile of papers
on the foot of the bed. Purpose
fully, she forced them away and
looked at the Senator. He was look
ing at the papers, too, rather sheep
ishly, over the rim of his cup.
"Whoever gave a patent to the
fool that invented kodaks should be
strung up for treason I Freedom of
the press, huh? It’s freedom of the
press makes cowardly slaves and
craven knaves of otherwise good cit
izens. You ought to get up a bill
about it. The press’ freedom is
taxpayers’ poison." She could have
smiled at that. She wished the
girls had been there to hear it.
Purely extemporaneous it was, too.
But her eyes would not be kept
away from the pile of papers. She
set her cup down with an impa
tient little crash,
“Oh, well, we may as well have a
look at the pictures, I suppose,” she
snapped. “They’re not bow-legged,
that’s one thing!”
She reached for the papers and
passed two or three from the top
of the pile across to the Senator,
who was reaching for them. They
settled back on the pillows. Sudden
ly Olympia gasped. “Tch, tch, tch,”
clucked the Senator, and kept on
clucking. Olympia gazed across at
him, wide-eyed, speechless. He
gazed at her.
“Well, God bless my soul I Think
of that nowl” he said reverently.
Then they fell desperately on the
papers and silence hung between
them, except for the crinkle of pa
per, occasional hissing sighs from
Olympia and an almost continuous
stream of clucks from the Senator.
The election was as good as won.
The girls, and the Senator along with
them, had got a terrific press. News
paper men all over the state had
worked on the case all night. They
had covered the Dastardly Outrage
—in large caps—from every possi
ble angle. Public sentiment was
aroused to the highest pitch; public
indignation was an inferno. Never
had the widely publicized American
standard of moral decency been so
flagrantly betrayed.
The New York Herald-Tribune
came out with an editorial denunci
ation of tactical devices so contrary
to pure Republican principle and
ideal.
“I’d like to see Len Hardesty’s
face now,” said Aunt Olympia hap
pily.
Len Hardesty publicly absolved
the Governor of all complicity and
shouldered the blame for the deba
cle; Governor Wilkie pleaded com
plete ignorance of the entire matter
and deplored the incident. But the
newsmen did not let it rest there.
They admitted that while the Gov
ernor hadn't been smart enough to
think it up, he had certainly been
immoral enough to try to reap the
advantage of it; they cited his pre
pared speech, the use of his chauf
feur, the arrangement of floodlights.
Limpy’s speech was quoted ver
batim, with Helen’s anguished
“Don’t say brats” in parenthesis.
Uncle Limpy’s glasses fogged up
so over Limpy’s speech that Aunt
Olympia had to read it aloud to
him.
“Now, you see, Ollie,” he said
reproachfully, “Hilda made good
sense indeed. Very good sense.
‘Seems as if they have did all right
for theirselves,’ just as she said.”
In the meantime, Hilda, with all
she had on hand that hectic day,
did not neglect to keep the secluded
girls informed.
"The’ve rung for their coffee
now,” she said. “It’ll take ’em a
good thirty minutes to get recom
posed.”
At the end of an hour, she ap
peared again. “Mr. Hardesty
’phoned have you any bad effects
afterward and he feels the same and
they ought to be composed by now,
if ever.”
The girls got up at once, a little
frightened, but determined.
“Shall we dress?” asked Adele.
“Um, no, I think not,” said Lim
py sagely. “We’d better go as we
are. Don’t brush your hair, Adele.
Don’t be too slick. We look more
votes-appealy in our bathrobes and
a little tousled. But not too tou
sled. Not tousled enough to be
tough.”
In bathrobes and slippers, effec
tively tousled but not tough, they
slipped down the hall to that sud
denly dread door—keeping sharp
lookout for cameras as they went.
Limpy knocked bravely but her
heart was heavy.
“Anybody but reporters can come
in and welcome 1” boomed Aunt
Olympia joyously.
Limpy opened the door. Aunt
Olympia and Uncle Lancy were sit
ting bolt upright in beds strewn with
pages of the morning papers. Both
were redly flushed with excitement,
beaming broadly. Aunt Olympia
held out her arms to them. Uncle
Lancy wiped his glasses.
“Oh—hello,” said Limpy, taken
back by the surprising cheerfulness
of the scene.
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, PERRY. GEORGIA
“Good morning,” said Adele faint
ly-
“ Come In, you dear precious dar
lings," cooed Aunt Olympia.
“Ring for coffee, my dear!" said
the Senator. "They look pale. Sit
down, girls. Nice legs you’ve got,
my dears."
The girls stopped short and looked
at each other.
“Would you think maybe the cam
paign has gone to their cerebel
lums?” asked Limpy.
"How adorable and rested you do
lookl” said Aunt Olympia. “You
must have had a good night's sleep."
“Did we sleep, Adele?"
“I don’t remember.”
“We must be on guard though,”
said Limpy. “These seemingly sim
ple cases often turn violent at a
moment’s notice.”
“We must be armed to protect
ourselves,” said Adele. “We can
use chairs if we have to. Keep close
to a chair, Limpy.”
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell
you," said Limpy. “We have bad
news for you.”
“Bad news!"
“Oh, did you catch cold?” wailed
Aunt Olympia, in an immediate pan
ic.
“No. Be calm. We didn’t catch
anything.” Limpy’s small face puck
ered with a sudden sadness. “We
lost something. We lost—”
“Tish, tish,” said the Senator kind
ly. “Don’t give it a minute’s
thought. I’ll buy you another.
Where’s my checkbook?”
“You can’t buy this,” said Limpy,
feeling suddenly sad and forlorn and
homesick. “It is something not for
sale! Never for sale! It’s—Helen.”
The smile faded from the Sena
tor’s face. He glanced almost ac
cusingly at the shocked Olympia.
“You’ve—lost—Helen!” she stam
mered.
“My dear,” said the Senator, re
proachfully, “didn’t you make sure
we had them all with us in the car
last night? Do you mean,” he went
on, becoming excited, “that one of
our children is still running around
at large among Republicans in—in a
wet bathing suit?”
Limpy laughed tearfully. “Oh, we
brought her home all right!—but—
well—you know, this sacred fran
chise.”
“Franchise!” ejaculated Aunt
Olympia. “She’s feverish! She
wants to buy a bus line.”
“Not that kind of a franchise. I
mean the vote. Helen got up this
morning and took a plane out to
lowa to vote.”
“When is she going?” demanded
Aunt Olympia.
“She’s gone. She went at six
o’clock.”
Aunt Olympia turned briskly to
the Senator. “Del, make a note of
that. Call Dave. Tell him to get
it in all the Monday papers. That’s
the kind of citizens we are! After
a night like last night, we send one
of our children by plane out to lowa
just to cast her sacred vote.”
“Did—she take time to dress?”
asked the Senator.
“Oh, yes. She dressed. We helped
her. She looked lovely.”
“She took the wind-up costume
along to vote in,” said Adele help
fully.
“Maybe she can get us our gro
ceries at wholesale from this on,”
said Aunt Olympia philosophically.
“Will she be back after the elec
tion?” asked Uncle Lancy.
The faint, familiar flicker flashed
between the girls.
“Um—well—l rather doubt it,”
said Adele.
“Not for a while, at least,” said
Limpy.
“She’s not going to send for you
girls to come out there, is she?”
quavered Aunt Olympia.
“Um—well—l rather doubt it,”
said Adele.
“Not for a while, anyhow,” said
Limpy.
“I’ll have her mail stopped,” de
clared Aunt Olympia. ‘T’U hire a
detective, I said she could go when
she liked and she can go if she
likes. But if she tries to get you
away, I’ll sue her.”
“She won’t try to get us,” said
Adele soothingly. “She’ll have her
hands full without us. And she may
be back, you know.”
“For a while, at least,” added
Limpy.
“My dear,” said the Senator sud
denly, “ring for Hilda. Tell her to
call the highest official of that line
and tell him to report to me every
hour how the plane goes through.
This is—a murky day—for flying.”
Tears came to Limpy’s eyes. She
went over and sat down beside him
on the bed and kissed the rosy bald
spot on top of his head.
“Uncle Lancy,” she said humbly,
“I’m really just sick about—disgrac
ing you the way I did. I lost my
temper and couldn’t help it. But
there’s one thing you’ve got to say
about my speech. I told the truth,
and not many campaigners can say
as much. I said you were a swell
guy—and—you are a swell guy!”
“You didn’t disgrace him,” said
Aunt Olympia jealously. “Sit down,
Adele. Sit here by me. Even Hilda
realizes you seem ‘to have did all
right for yourselves.’ Haven’t you
seen the papers?”
The girls covered their eyes with
their hands. They groaned,
“Not No. plea*®*” - _. ,
“No papers! Anything but pa
pers!”
“Oh, have a heart, Auntie! Don I
rub it in!”
“Why, you silly little dunces —I
mean darlings,” roared Aunt Olym
pia fondly. “Everything’s lovely!
Everything’s jake! In fact, hunky
dory! They liked it."
“They liked what?” asked Adel*
timidly.
“You,” said the Senator. “All of
you.”
“They’re outraged! They’re furi
ous! It’s an insult to the nation!
Their national sense of decency i*
cut to the core!”
“I don’t blame them," faltered
Limpy.
“No, no, not you! The Opposition!
. . . After all, the public’* seen
plenty of legs. Legs are nothing
. . , Though a God’* blessing
they’re good legs, I must say . . .
It’s Brother Wilkie they’re cursing.
Even the White House called up.”
“Is—is it in the papers?” asked
Limpy feebly.
“Certainly it is in the papers! Th*
papers are full of it!”
“Oh . . . They are . . . Are they?
. . . Did anybody mention—my—
speech?”
“They say it was the best speech
made in any campaign this year.
They print it in full—even to Helen’*
reminding you about the brats. It
was a great speech, Limpy. I wish
I’d made it ... I just wish I
could see Len Hardesty’s face
now!”
Limpy, blushing faintly, reached
for a paper.
“Oh, Adele,” she cried. “How
sweet—how proud—you look!”
“Look at this one of you, Limpy.
Look, where you come out of the
truck. See what it says. AMERI
CA’S LITTLEST STATESWOMAN
TAKES A BOW, Isn’t that sweet!”
“Look at this one of Brother Wil
kie standing on the platform with
his mouth open,” said the Senator.
“Look at this one of Len Hardes
ty standing there like a snake-in
the-grass beside the truck as you
pass by!”
“Did—did anybody hear—what he
said?” asked Adele, nervously.
“No. It just says he was mutter
ing angrily. What did he say,
Adele.?”
“Oh, he just said—oh, he didn’t
say anything—he just—muttered,”
said Adele.
“Look at this one of the Senator
wrapping Limpy in his coat! Isn’t
that the noblest picture you ever
“They liked what?” asked
Adele timidly.
saw of the Senator? Doesn’t he look
like a real Napoleon standing there
with his arms full?”
“We’d better save these picture*
and send them to Helen,” said Lim
py. “She was so embarrassed.
She’ll feel better when she sees
they aren’t so bad. We don’t show
half as much leg as girdle and
stocking ads.”
“She’ll see them,” said Aunt
Olympia. “Everybody’ll see them.”
She mopped tears of joy from her
eyes. “These pictures have swept
the country. They’ve swept the
world. I’ll bet the King of England
is looking at these pictures this
morning , . . Look at this one of
me, Adele. It’s not very flattering,
but it just shows how upset and
motherly I am. It’ll pull the wom
an-vote.”
Hilda appeared once more,
“There’s an awful lot of people
on their way here about one thing
and another and there’s plenty
downstairs now in my opinion eating
us out of house and home and Mr,
Allen says bygones is bygones—”
The Senator coughed deprecating
ly. “Hilda,” he reproved her gen
tly. “The young ladies are pres
ent. We can dispense with the—
gory details.”
“And the camera men are wait
ing to get a picture of you and him
and his bloody nose with your arms
around each other and Mr. Farley
says you call him as soon as you
wake up and whatever you need you
can have and that Ambassador to
England says you can have your
pick of his nine to get them in
training for future and someone
whose name we didn’t rightly get
’phoned from lowa and says will
Miss Limpy—he said Limpy—be his
campaign manager in ’4O and would
you like more coffee? And Mr. Har
desty 'phones have you any symp
toms and he feels the same—”
“My dear,” said the Senator. ”|
think I’d better shave.”
iTO BE CONTINUED)
* IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY I
chool Lesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D.
Dean of The Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for October 13
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS
LESSON TEXT—Luke 2:40-52.
GOLDEN TEXT—And Jesus increased In
Wisdom and stature, and in favor with God
and man.—Luke 2:52.
One brief but revealing glimpse
Into the earthly life of oor Lord is
all we have from His birth to the
time when he entered upon His
public ministry at His baptism in
the Jordan. How appropriate It is
that he was permitted to live those
years of His life behind the curtain
of divine silence.
The incident in our lesson shows
Jesus at the age of responsibility,
and in His Father’s house. This is
preceded by one verse which reveals
Him as the growing child, and is
followed by another verse which
tells of his advancement from boy
hood into manhood. Luke, who is
the only one who presents this sto
ry, thus fills out the picture of the
divine-human personality of the One
whom he purposes to reveal as the
perfect and universal Saviour.
I. The Child Grows (v. 40).
Like every other child in the world
(apart, of course, from any sin or
blemish), Jesus grew during the first
12 years of His life on earth. One
rightly regards that growth as the
normal, happy development of ev
ery child, a time of physical devel
opment, or carefree play, of learn
ing obedience in the household at
Nazareth. A child should not bear
the burdens of life nor be required
to make its weighty decisions.
Jesus came into the world to die
as the Saviour of sinful men, but
for these childhood years we are
glad that He just grew, waxed
strong in body as well as in spirit,
developing mentally, and that in it
all “the grace of God was upon
him.” May our children have a sim
ilar opportunity and privilege!
11. The Boy Meets Life’s Re
sponsibilities (vv. 41-51).
Soon enough came the day when
as a “son of the law” Jesus reached
the age of accountability and went
with His parents to keep the feast
of the Passover. He entered the
temple, and there took over the re
sponsibility for his own religious life,
which until then had been borne by
His parents. Such a day is of vital
importance in the life of every boy
and girl, and in the case of Jesus
was of special significance.
Acting for Himself, He tarried in
the temple. As a good learner, He
asked and answered questions, at
the same time amazing those who
heard by His understanding. There
His mother (who had shown her con
fidence that He was to be trusted to
be where He ought to be) found
Him after she had looked in vain for
Him at eventide in their company
on the road.
To Him it was the natural and
expected thing that He would be in
His Father’s house, going about the
business of God. He recognized the
special relationship between Him
self and the Father—His very own
Father—and He began to assume the
responsibility of His divine mission
on earth.
He was about to turn the corner
from boyhood and start toward man
hood, but there were yet 18 years
that He was to show His perfect sub
mission to the will of God by His
obedience to His parents. There is
a real lesson there for every grow
ing boy and girl.
111, The Youth Goes On to Man
hood (v. 52).
The curtain is drawn again, and
the boy Jesus develops into the
man; yes, the man who was to
bear on Calvary’s tree your sins and
mine. What do we know about these
years when a boy with the con
sciousness that He must be about
His Father’s business went forward
to manhood under the loving and
watchful eye of the mother who
“kept all these sayings in her heart”
(v. 51)? Only what Luke tells us,
but that is a great deal.
Jesus “advanced,” the word be
ing entirely different in meaning
from the “grew” of verse 40. The
child grows without any thought or
purpose of doing so, but the boy
pressing on to manhood has to beat
his way forward, cutting a path
through life to his goal.
The fact that Jesus did that should
encourage every young man and
woman who is doing the same in a
difficult and hostile world, and cause
them to seek the daily companion
ship and help of the Son of God and
Son of Man who has passed that
way before them.
The development here puts the
mental first, then the physical. The
latter is important, but must be un
der control of the former. Crown
ing them both is His growth in
grace, fellowship with God and fel
lowship with men, the latter glori
fied and made useful by the former.
Here again we may learn of Him
who, though the Son of God with
power, was obedient to the limita
tions of the humanity He had taken,
and yet advanced “in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and
man” (v. 52),
If it Is time for your eyes to be
re-examined, you will be wise not
to neglect this important matter
Remember—“lt’s all in the exaim
ination.” Dr. L. N. Huff, 54 Broad
Street, Atlanta—a specialist in eye
refractions for over 30 years, and
a State Board Examiner for Op
tometrists, leads the south in eye
examination. Dr. Huff is owner
and founder of the L. N. Huff Opti
cal Company, one of Georgia's
oldest and largest optical estab
lishments. Dr. Huff has several
capable associates devoting their
entire time in making eye refrac
tions. He also has expert opticians
that carry out the filling of these
prescriptions—“a double service
for a single price.” Let Dr. Huff
take care of the only pair of eyes
you will ever have. And remem
ber—“lt’s all in the examination.”
54 Broad St. Entrance, Healey
Bldg., Atlanta, Ga.—Adv.
Doing Good Resolutely
Let no man be sorry he has done
good, because others concerned
with him have done evil! If a man
has acted right, he has done well,
though alone; if wrong, the sanc
tion of all mankind will not justify
him.—Fielding.
DON’T BE BOSSED
BY YOUR LAXATIVE —RELIEVE
CONSTIPATION THIS MODERN WAY
• When you feel gassy, headachy, logy
due to clogged-up bowels, do as millions
do —take Feen-A-Mint at bedtime. Next
morning —thorough, comfortable relief,
helping you start the day full of your
normal energy and pep, feeling like a
millionl Feen-A-Mint doesn’t disturb
your night’s rest or interfere with work the
next day. Try Feen-A-Mint, the chewing
gum laxative, yourself. It tastes good, it’s
handy and economical... a family supply
FEEN-A-MINT To*
Self-Made
Every man must live with the
man he makes of himself; and the
better job he does in molding his
character, the better company he
will have.—Hudson Maxim.
, ST. JOSEPH IPV
Either Way
“What’s your name, boy?”
“Jimmy, sir.”
“No, I mean your full name?"
“It’s Jimmy, full or empty.”
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Well Done
The best thing is to do well,
what one is doing at the moment.
-—Pittacus.
q-uLckiy
Each Finer
Every babe born into the won
is a finer one than the last.-
Dickens.
A 9 S m T CB
The buyer’s assurance is the adverbs
ing he or she reads in the newspaper
That is the buyer’s guide It tells t e
3 prices one must expect to pay Leitne
* seller who tries to charge more hew-
