"Thank you for riding over from Red Bluff with me. My father never
leaves the office until the whistle blows, and so I'm going to hurry
down to that little building you see at the end of the street and
surprise him."
He stepped out on the running-board, stood there a moment, and
extended his hand. Shirley had commenced a due and formal expression
of her gratitude for having been delivered safely in Sequoia, when
George Sea Otter spoke:
"Here comes John Cardigan," he said.
"Drive Miss Sumner around to Colonel Pennington's house," Bryce
ordered, and even while he held Shirley's hand, he turned to catch
the first glimpse of his father. Shirley followed his glance and saw
a tall, powerfully built old man coming down the street with his
hands thrust a little in front of him, as if for protection from some
invisible assailant.
"Oh, my poor old father!" she heard Bryce Cardigan murmur. "My dear
old pal! And I've let him grope in the dark for two years!"
He released her hand and leaped from the car. "Dad!" he called. "It
is I--Bryce. I've come home to you at last."
The slightly bent figure of John Cardigan straightened with a jerk;
he held out his arms, trembling with eagerness, and as the car
continued on to the Pennington house Shirley looked back and saw
Bryce folded in his father's embrace.
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