The Blue Birds' Winter Nest Part 13

The children always enjoyed these make-believe quarrels between the two brothers, and Ned generally egged them on. To-day, however, he was too eager to hear about the trip to the city and so urged Uncle Ben to finish the story.

"We found the machinery that I think you can best use here, and had it prepared for s.h.i.+pment. Just as we were leaving the store-room a man came down with a load of type.

"'Where are you taking that?' I asked him.

"'Boss said to send it off to be melted down,' replied the man.

"'Just leave it on top of this packing case--I'll see that it is taken care of,' I told him, and he did as I said.

"Now, boys, all of that type is coming out here for you to work with. I had it charged to my account at the office, for it was a 'big find' to get hold of some type just at the time we needed it," concluded Uncle Ben, taking a long breath of relief.

"And now, I'll tell you of all the things Uncle Ben forgot to mention,"

laughed Mr. Talmage.

"When we left the stock-room and went to his office, he picked up the telephone and called up more friends than I ever thought he knew. Two or three of them were invited to lunch with us, and the others were told about the wonderful work the Oakdale children were planning. Every one of his friends was told to help along or suggest some way to boost the magazine. Of course, they had to promise."

Uncle Ben chuckled to himself as his brother told about the telephone experiences.

"Now, we come to the time when this crafty uncle of yours met his friends at lunch. What do you think his plot was? Well, just listen and I will tell you," and Mr. Talmage nodded his head warningly at his brother.

"One of his guests was Mr. Connell, the man that owns one of the largest engraving plants in the city. This Uncle Ben told his story in such an engaging way that that business man actually offered to turn out the plates you needed for the magazine at actual cost for several months. We all know what that means--several hundred dollars on the credit side of the ledger."

All eyes were turned toward Uncle Ben for confirmation of the great offer, and he nodded his head smilingly.

"One of the best business advisers I know in New York said that he thought you children had an unusually good idea for a successful business investment, and hoped that you would keep it up until you were adults and saw the financial benefit in it," said Uncle Ben, seriously.

The girls were pleased at this news, but the boys were hilarious to find that a clever business man approved of the plan they were working out.

"When will the machinery be here, Uncle Ben?" asked Ned.

"It is coming by freight and will take a few days, but you will be kept busy until then in finis.h.i.+ng the shop-work," returned Uncle Ben.

"Yes, indeed, we will have to build some stands for type, too, with the boxful you got for us," answered Ned.

"We Blue Birds spent all of our afternoon engaging editors to take charge of the pages," ventured Ruth, who thought the Blue Birds had been quiet too long.

"You'll have to have all the pages ready to hand over to me by the tenth of October, you know; I'll need about three days for making linotype and then you can have the proofs back," said Uncle Ben.

"Oh, we will have everything ready long before the tenth," laughed Mrs.

Talmage.

"From the way the Blue Birds are working, I should say that each one will have about five hundred pages written by that time," added Aunt Selina, smilingly.

"In that case, we will have to have each page add a notice at the bottom: 'To be continued in our Nest.'"

CHAPTER VII

BLUE BIRD WISDOM AND BOBOLINK WORK

"There! my page is all done!" exclaimed Ruth, holding a sheet of paper away to admire the neatly written notes for "Household Hints."

"Mine's done, too, but I'm going to copy it over to-night to make it look neat as a pin," said Norma.

"Did you get any new candy recipes?" asked Dot eagerly.

The little Blue Bird who took charge of the "Candy Kettle" smacked her lips emphatically.

"I haven't started to ink the pencil lines of my cut-out paper furniture, but that won't take long," explained Dot. "I started with the kitchen because Mumzie said no good housekeeper would furnish a parlor if she had no kitchen equipment."

"I did my drawing lesson, but I haven't written the lesson telling the children how to make the picture," said Betty, with a worried look toward Mrs. Talmage.

"Plenty of time, dear," soothed Mrs. Talmage. "You know Uncle Ben said we would have until the tenth of the month."

The Blue Birds were gathered in the cherry-tree Nest after school, one day, waiting for the signal from the Publis.h.i.+ng House which would tell them they might run over and inspect the huge pieces of machinery that had arrived that day from New York. Ike and Simon had to help the three truckmen as they placed rollers under the press and rolled it from the truck and into the room. The st.i.tcher, cutter and other pieces were not so unwieldy to move and place. At noon, Ned saw the men struggling with the press and so refrained from going near the house, but he told the other Bobolinks, and immediately after school was dismissed a crowd of boys ran to their shop.

The Blue Birds had been enjoined to keep out of the way while the boys cleared things up and investigated the various pieces of machinery. It was a strain on their patience, however, to remain in their Nest and listen to the laughs, exultant shouts, and sounds of satisfaction coming from the carriage house.

All things have an end, so Uncle Ben soon appeared at the wide doorway of the Publis.h.i.+ng House and gave a shrill whistle for the Blue Birds.

Instantly, seven little girls took flight down the steps and across the lawn, leaving Mrs. Talmage to a.s.sist Aunt Selina.

The Blue Birds ran in and looked about. The great, ugly, black machines with wheels, rollers and arms everywhere, did not impress them very favorably.

"Can't make head or tail of the thing!" scorned Dot.

"No one expects a girl to understand," replied her brother Don.

"I would be afraid of that dreadful looking knife!" shuddered Betty, standing at a safe distance and pointing to the wide blade of the paper cutter.

Then the children crowded about the st.i.tcher while Uncle Ben showed the wonderful work the machine did.

The electric attachments had not yet been completed, so the demonstration of the machines had to be by gestures. But Uncle Ben was equal to it, and the children felt that they could almost _see_ the machines running as they listened to his explanations.

"Well, Uncle Ben, I don't see how we can start this work without you superintending us," ventured Meredith.

"It all seemed simple enough when we were talking about printing a magazine, but this job is more than I can do," admitted Jinks.

"I am at home with my little press, Uncle Ben, but these big fellows make me want to run away from the contract we made with you," added Ned, seriously.

The Blue Birds and younger Bobolinks heard the older boys with anxious concern lest the entire plan should fail.

"I thought of just such a contingency and provided for it," replied Uncle Ben, with his optimistic manner. "I realize that you all go to school and afternoons after school do not give you much time to experiment on these machines, so I found two young men who used to do good work for us who were pleased to come out here for a few weeks and show you boys how to do things. They won't come until the galley proofs arrive, but then, they will help you get out the first issue and teach you everything there is to know about these machines. They will take them all apart and teach you how to put them together again. A machine is like a man's valuable animal--if you pay no attention to its welfare, it does not last long enough to pay you for its keep."

"We'll look after our machinery all right, Uncle Ben," agreed Ned, with the look of the workman who truly loves his tools.