CHAPTER XX THE END OF A PERFECT DAY
"Daggers and dirks!" exclaimed Sherry, weakly sitting down on the carstep when it was finally borne in upon him that Katherine's highwaymanwas none other than Sylvia's father, Hercules' "Marse Tad," the man forwhom he and Hercules had been futilely fine-combing the earth for thelast twenty-four hours.
"Am I awake?" he continued, "or is this all an opium dream? FirstKatherine, whom we thought at home at Carver House, materializes beforeus out of thin air; then Dr. Phillips, whom we thought on a ship boundfor South America. What's happening here to-night, anyway? Is itwitchcraft?"
"O, Marse Tad," quavered Hercules, still on his knees, "we shore thoughtyou was gone on dat South Ameriky boat. We bin a-lookin' for you so.Mist' Sher'dan an' I bin down to N'Yawk all day."
"You have been looking for me?" asked Dr. Phillips in surprise.
Hercules, trying to tell the story all at once, became utterly incoherentin his excitement, and Sherry saw that he would have to step in. And sothere, in the light from the lamps of the disabled taxicab, with thefitful explosions of the reviving engine drowning out Sherry's speechevery few minutes, Tad Phillips heard the great news that would lift thecrushing load of anguish from his heart, and would turn the world oncemore into a place of laughter, and light, and happiness.
"It was a miracle, my deciding to stay over for the next boat," hedeclared solemnly, a few minutes later, after nearly wringing Sherry'shand off in an effort to express his joy and gratitude. "It was the handof Providence, sir, nothing less than the hand of Providence. I had fullymade up my mind to go on that boat yesterday; then for no reason at all Isuddenly decided to wait until next week before sailing." His voice sankaway into a whisper of awe as he repeated, "It was Providence itself,sir, nothing less than the hand of Providence, that made me change mymind about sailing yesterday."
"You may have been inspired by Providence to change your mind aboutsailing," rejoined Sherry, "but if it hadn't been for Katherine, here, wenever would have found you, for it never occurred to us that you werestill in Philadelphia. It's all Katherine's doing--her losing thathandbag."
"But if I hadn't eaten those lobster croquettes and gotten sick Iwouldn't have lost the handbag," said Katherine comically. "It all comesback to the lobster croquettes. Providence and lobster croquettes! What acombination to work miracles!"
It was a rather dishevelled, but altogether triumphant quartet thatarrived at Carver House some few hours later. Katherine's hair hadescaped from its net and hung in straggling wisps over her eyes; her hathad been so completely crushed by its contact with the wheel of the taxithat it was unrecognizable as an article of millinery, and hung, a meretwisted piece of wreckage, in a dejected lump over one ear. Her coat wasplastered with dirt from neck to hem, and her gloves were stiff anddiscolored. One eye was closed in a permanent wink by a black smudge thatdecorated her forehead and half of her cheek.
Blissfully unconscious of her startling appearance, she burst into thelibrary, where the household were waiting to welcome the returnedwanderers.
"O Katherine," cried all the Winnebagos in chorus when they beheld her,"now you look natural again!"
The tale of Katherine's adventure, with its astonishing ending, left themall staring and breathless.
"Katherine surely must have been born under a different sign of theZodiac than those you see in the ordinary almanacs," said Nyoda. "Thereis some special influence of planets guiding her that is denied toordinary mortals."
"Must be the sign of the Lobster, then," laughed Katherine, gratefullysipping the hot milk Migwan had brought her, and allowing Justice to drawthe hatpins from her hat and remove the battered wreck from her head.
"How's Sylvia?" asked Sherry.
"Very much improved," replied Nyoda, "but her heart is still actingqueerly. I don't know how she is going to stand this excitement."
Dr. Phillips agreed with her that he must not appear before Sylvia toosuddenly, or the shock might be fatal. Impatient as he was for therecognition to take place, he knew that it would have to be brought aboutwith caution. There was too much at stake to make a misstep now. Nyodamust prepare her gradually, first telling her that her father was alive,and letting her recover from the excitement of that announcement beforebreaking the news that he was actually in the house.
The Winnebagos looked at Dr. Phillips with a surprise which it wasdifficult to conceal. This mild-eyed, white-haired gentleman was utterlydifferent from the picture they had conjured up of the bold intruder whohad so determinedly made his entrance into Carver House. They hadexpected to see a grim-faced, resolute-looking man, and Hinpoha confidedafterward that her mental picture had included a pair of pistols stickingout of his pockets. The early portrait of "Tad the Terror," in UncleJasper's diary, had been slightly misleading in regard to his appearance.
Nyoda saw Dr. Phillips' eyes fixed, with a sorrowful expression, upon theportrait of Uncle Jasper above the library fireplace, and she guessedwhat bitter pangs the breaking up of that friendship had cost him;guessed also, that he had held no such bitter feeling against JasperCarver as the master of Carver House had held against him, andunderstanding the characters of the two men, she saw why it was thatSylvia Warrington had preferred the one to the other.
Over by the fireplace, Justice was teasing Katherine unmercifully aboutthe lobster croquettes, while behind her back the Captain had taken oneof the broken feathers from her hat and was tickling Slim with it, whohad fallen asleep in his chair. The clock on the stairway chimed four.
An irrepressible attack of yawning seized the whole party, and with oneimpulse the Winnebagos began to steal toward the stairway.
"Well," said Katherine, with a sigh of deep content, as she went wearilyup the stairs leaning on Migwan's shoulder, "well, this is the end of aperfect day!"