Tully and repaired to his old room to
remove the stains of travel before joining his father at dinner.
Some twenty minutes later his unusual votive offering was delivered
by George Sea Otter to Colonel Pennington's Swedish maid, who
promptly brought it in to the Colonel and Shirley Sumner, who were
even then at dinner in the Colonel's fine burl-redwood-panelled
dining room. Miss Sumner's amazement was so profound that for fully a
minute she was mute, contenting herself with scrutinizing alternately
the pie and the card that accompanied it. Presently she handed the
card to her uncle, who affixed his pince-nez and read the epistle
with deliberation.
"Isn't this young Cardigan a truly remarkable young man, Shirley?" he
declared. "Why, I have never heard of anything like his astounding
action. If he had sent you over an armful of American Beauty roses
from his father's old-fashioned garden, I could understand it, but an
infernal blackberry pie! Good heavens!"
"I told you he was different," she replied. To the Colonel's
amazement she did not appear at all amused.
Colonel Pennington poked a fork through the delicate brown crust. "I
wonder if it is really as good as he says it is, Shirley."
"Of course. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have sent it."
"How do you know?"
"By intuition," she replied.
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