For a second or two he failed to descry Sadie, who, as per rehearsal, was hidden behind the two young men. As, with a look of surprise, he spied her, Helen drew Sadie to her and managed to stammer:
“And this is my cousin Sadie, Mr. Barnes.”
Sadie dropped a timid courtesy, her face on fire.
“How do you do, Miss––er”–––
Joshua Barnes was feasting his eyes on Sadie’s shy beauty and smiling benignly.
“I didn’t catch the name,” he added, turning to Helen.
“B-b-b,” she began, when Whitney Barnes came to her rescue.
“Barnes, pater––Mrs. Sadie; that is, Mrs. Whitney Barnes––a bride of seventy-seven minutes.”
Whitney Barnes beamed upon his father and put his arm about the old gentleman’s shoulders to support him.