One girl was
twenty-three and the other twenty. I went to work at seven o'clock in
the morning and got home at seven at night. My wife and daughters went
to theatres, dinners, and parties, and of course I stayed at home and
kept house with the servant girl. In my business I had taken in two
young fellows as partners, both good, honest men, but soon they got to
figuring that on business points they were two and I was one, and pretty
soon all I had to do was to put wood on the fire and feed the office
cat. So you can see I was pretty lonesome about eighteen hours out of
the twenty-four."
Quincy said reflectively, "And your family--"
Uncle Ike broke in, "Are alive and well, I suppose. They don't write me
and I don't write them. I told my partners they must buy me out, and I
gave them sixty days to do it in. I gave my wife and daughters
two-thirds of my fortune and put the other third into an annuity. I am
calculating now that if my health holds good I shall beat the insurance
company in the end."
Quincy, finding that his inquiries provoked such interesting replies,
risked another, "Are your daughters married?"
Uncle Ike laughed quietly.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84