CHAPTER XX

THE END OF A PERFECT DAY

"Daggers and dirks!" exclaimed Sherry, weakly sitting down on the car

step when it was finally borne in upon him that Katherine's highwayman

was none other than Sylvia's father, Hercules' "Marse Tad," the man for

whom he and Hercules had been futilely fine-combing the earth for the

last twenty-four hours.

"Am I awake?" he continued, "or is this all an opium dream? First

Katherine, whom we thought at home at Carver House, materializes before

us out of thin air; then Dr. Phillips, whom we thought on a ship bound

for South America. What's happening here to-night, anyway? Is it

witchcraft?"

"O, Marse Tad," quavered Hercules, still on his knees, "we shore thought

you 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 incoherent

in his excitement, and Sherry saw that he would have to step in. And so

there, in the light from the lamps of the disabled taxicab, with the

fitful explosions of the reviving engine drowning out Sherry's speech

every few minutes, Tad Phillips heard the great news that would lift the

crushing load of anguish from his heart, and would turn the world once

more into a place of laughter, and light, and happiness.

"It was a miracle, my deciding to stay over for the next boat," he

declared solemnly, a few minutes later, after nearly wringing Sherry's

hand off in an effort to express his joy and gratitude. "It was the hand

of Providence, sir, nothing less than the hand of Providence. I had fully

made up my mind to go on that boat yesterday; then for no reason at all I

suddenly decided to wait until next week before sailing." His voice sank

away into a whisper of awe as he repeated, "It was Providence itself,

sir, nothing less than the hand of Providence, that made me change my

mind about sailing yesterday."

"You may have been inspired by Providence to change your mind about

sailing," rejoined Sherry, "but if it hadn't been for Katherine, here, we

never would have found you, for it never occurred to us that you were

still in Philadelphia. It's all Katherine's doing--her losing that

handbag."

"But if I hadn't eaten those lobster croquettes and gotten sick I

wouldn't have lost the handbag," said Katherine comically. "It all comes

back to the lobster croquettes. Providence and lobster croquettes! What a

combination to work miracles!"

It was a rather dishevelled, but altogether triumphant quartet that

arrived at Carver House some few hours later. Katherine's hair had

escaped from its net and hung in straggling wisps over her eyes; her hat

had been so completely crushed by its contact with the wheel of the taxi

that it was unrecognizable as an article of millinery, and hung, a mere

twisted piece of wreckage, in a dejected lump over one ear. Her coat was

plastered with dirt from neck to hem, and her gloves were stiff and

discolored. One eye was closed in a permanent wink by a black smudge that

decorated her forehead and half of her cheek.

Blissfully unconscious of her startling appearance, she burst into the

library, where the household were waiting to welcome the returned

wanderers.

"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 them

all staring and breathless.

"Katherine surely must have been born under a different sign of the

Zodiac than those you see in the ordinary almanacs," said Nyoda. "There

is some special influence of planets guiding her that is denied to

ordinary mortals."

"Must be the sign of the Lobster, then," laughed Katherine, gratefully

sipping the hot milk Migwan had brought her, and allowing Justice to draw

the 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 acting

queerly. I don't know how she is going to stand this excitement."

Dr. Phillips agreed with her that he must not appear before Sylvia too

suddenly, or the shock might be fatal. Impatient as he was for the

recognition to take place, he knew that it would have to be brought about

with caution. There was too much at stake to make a misstep now. Nyoda

must prepare her gradually, first telling her that her father was alive,

and letting her recover from the excitement of that announcement before

breaking the news that he was actually in the house.

The Winnebagos looked at Dr. Phillips with a surprise which it was

difficult to conceal. This mild-eyed, white-haired gentleman was utterly

different from the picture they had conjured up of the bold intruder who

had so determinedly made his entrance into Carver House. They had

expected to see a grim-faced, resolute-looking man, and Hinpoha confided

afterward that her mental picture had included a pair of pistols sticking

out of his pockets. The early portrait of "Tad the Terror," in Uncle

Jasper's diary, had been slightly misleading in regard to his appearance.

Nyoda saw Dr. Phillips' eyes fixed, with a sorrowful expression, upon the

portrait of Uncle Jasper above the library fireplace, and she guessed

what bitter pangs the breaking up of that friendship had cost him;

guessed also, that he had held no such bitter feeling against Jasper

Carver as the master of Carver House had held against him, and

understanding the characters of the two men, she saw why it was that

Sylvia Warrington had preferred the one to the other.

Over by the fireplace, Justice was teasing Katherine unmercifully about

the lobster croquettes, while behind her back the Captain had taken one

of the broken feathers from her hat and was tickling Slim with it, who

had fallen asleep in his chair. The clock on the stairway chimed four.

An irrepressible attack of yawning seized the whole party, and with one

impulse the Winnebagos began to steal toward the stairway.

"Well," said Katherine, with a sigh of deep content, as she went wearily

up the stairs leaning on Migwan's shoulder, "well, this is the end of a

perfect day!"