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 *come by astonishment, and Mr. Wakeman quietly slipped away.

"Send her back in here," ordered the master of the house.

The little girl came, attended by a redheaded lad, somewhat taller than herself, with whom she had already established a delightful intimacy; for she held fast to his hand and beamed upon him with the tenderest of smiles as she cried:

"Oh, Uncle Joe! Here's Michael!"

"Huh! Well, Michael, what's wanted?"

"Josephine, Mr. Smith," returned the lad.

"Michael, Josephine! How long have you two been acquainted?"

"About five minutes, I guess," answered the manly little chap, pulling a battered silver watch from his jacket pocket. The watch was minus a crystal and he calmly adjusted the hands with one red little finger as he announced the hour. "It was just eleven o'clock when I rang the bell, and it's six minutes past now, Mr. Smith." Then he shook up his timepiece, generously held it toward Josephine and in