Page:The mislaid uncle (IA mislaiduncle00raym).pdf/177

 "My little Joe! John's one baby daughter! My precious little namesake!"

The mislaid uncle had been found! That truth was evident in the spontaneous recognition of him, by his likeness so strong to his twin, that even the daughter had confounded the pair. A moment later, though, the child had perceived her own mistake and was regarding him more shyly, from the safe refuge of the old Uncle Joe's knee, which had long since learned to adjust itself to the convenience of small maidens.

Something prompted Mrs. Merriman and Miss Kimono to withdraw from a scene they dreaded might be painful, and they thoughtfully took Josephine away with them. They knew, far better than she, how wonderfully she had grown into the lonely heart of the aged millionaire, whose money was so powerless to buy for him what this other, younger Joseph was so rich in. It were kinder and wiser to leave the two uncles alone, and face to face to adjust their complicated affairs as best they might.