Then he was gone.
[CHAPTER XXV.]
REST.
"FATHER, I expected you home nearly an hour ago," said Annie, meeting Mr. Wilmot at the hall door.
"Yes—I could not come, dear."
"Mr. Page has been waiting ever so long in the study to see you."
There was an almost imperceptible sigh. "I should have been in time, but I was stopped. One of the poor little Handcocks has been terribly scalded. Of course I went at once to see."
"Oh, how dreadful! How was it?" asked Annie. She was watching anxiously her father's face, even while keeping up in resolute style the cheerful manner which she had cultivated of late.
"The mother out, of course, and the four infants locked indoors alone. A kettle of water had been left on or close to the kitchen fire, and the eldest child pulled it over, trying to lift it farther away. The youngest child, crawling on the floor, narrowly escaped a complete deluge. Bad enough as it is."
"Who helped the poor things?"