Our Old Uncle's Home Author:Carey General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1872 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. THE BOYS' ARRIVAL. , EAMES' and his cart were duly in waiting for the young gentlemen as they jumped out of the train ; and as their luggage was small, and the little wayside station offered no temptation to loiter, 'Jeames' and his charge were speedily stowed into the cart, and on their way to The Refuge. There was not much in the country through which they passed to distract the boys' curiosity. It was well wooded with oak trees just opening into leaf; but it was flat, and therefore rather uninteresting. Here and there they crossed streams, once a broad lazy river, which the man told his young companions ran, 'after a while, ' close under their uncle's lawn, where it spread out very broad, very shallow, and at times almost too lazy to run at all. The boysdid not care much for all this ; . they were longing to hear something of the life at The Refuge -- something that would guide them as to what they were to encounter. 'James! that's my uncle's horse?' inquired one. 'Ay! sure.' 'Has he many of them ?' ' No; only this one, and an old grey, and a donkey. Master can't ride, and Missus don't drive.' ' Any ponies ?' inquired the boys again. 'No! Who wanted any? No good,' was the reply. ' Any rabbits or dogs or cats ?' ' Plenty of rabbits in the hedges; but Master had them all caught, when he could.' ' Dogs : were there no dogs ?' ' No; they'd be rummaging Miss Lawrence's flower-beds, and that she could noways abide; or dirtying indoors, and that Mrs. Robins would not like.' ' Who was Mrs. Robins ?' This was quite a new personage to the boys. ' She was the housekeeper, and a v...« less