"Oh, Baker, is that you? I am all right, and we're coming home as fast as we can."
Sidney's voice was brisk and cheerful.
"Ride back and tell the Admiral I'm coming. I got stranded on a sandbank."
The groom galloped off.
All serious talk was over, and very soon they were in the hall, with the Admiral and the Major fussing round them. The Major had just got in, very tired and rather cross now that the excitement was over.
"We thought your boat had got upset," he said testily. "We never expected you would stick in the mud."
"I'm so sorry I have disappointed you," said Sidney; then she put her arms up round her father's neck, and gave him a hug. "You are not sorry to see me back again, are you, dad?"
Her father laid his hand caressingly on her head.
"I shall say my prayers to-night with a grateful heart," he said; then he looked towards Randolph. "Thanks much to you for bringing me back my little girl. I could not live without her."
Then Sidney slipped away to change her wet clothes. Half-way up the low broad staircase, she stopped and looked down at the little group in the hall.