Page:Harvey O'Higgins--Silent Sam and other stories.djvu/238

226 She smiled at Barney as she replied: "Pretty good, I guess." And the uncle took his cue from the direction of that smile, to say: "Barney 's the boy to give y' a good time. Eh, Barney? Well, y' always did have a sharp eye fer the gurrls, Barney. How 's yer mother?"

They cut off the father's escape by sitting down in front of him, but he pretended to be unaware of them until the Honorable Michael said: "Well, Nick, don't yeh know me?"

"Oh, I know yeh!" he answered, under his hat.

The uncle smiled amiably at his nephews as he replied: "If yeh knew me as well as I know meself, yeh 'd like me less."

"I like yeh little enough."

"An' I 'm sorry fer that." He nodded, reassuringly to the girl. "We 're gettin' to be too old fer inmities."

Nick flared up: "I suppose yeh think I ought to be thankin' yeh fer gettin' me the job on the light?"

"Why should yeh? It's nothin' to what I ought to 've done fer yeh—if yeh 'd let me. But yeh 've been so dang indipendent!" His voice was politic.

"I wanted nothin' from yeh but to be let alone."

"I know it.… Well, yeh 've had yer way. It 's been a bad bus'ness, an' I 'm glad it 's all done with. If we had our lives to live over again, it might be diff'rent. How 's the wife?"

"She 's well enough," Nick answered sulkily.

"That 's right. Yeh 're lucky to have a good wife an' a fine pair o' boys." He turned to the girl. "I 'm