"'Objections!' What objections could there possibly be, my dear sir? I fancy there could be nothing worse than a warm welcome for you," replied the colonel.
At that moment Captain Neville, who had put his wife in their carryall, came up to see what had delayed his guest.
"My dear Mrs. Rothsay, we are ready to start," he said. Then seeing Mr. Clarence, whom he had met in Washington and liked very much, he seized his hand and exclaimed:
"Why, Rockharrt, my dear fellow! You here! This is a surprise, indeed! I am very glad to see you! How are you? When did you arrive?" and he shook the hand of the new comer as if he would have shaken it off.
"I am very well, thank you, captain, and have just landed from the boat. I hope you and your wife are quite well."
"Robust, sir! Robust! So glad to see you! But so sorry you did not arrive a few days sooner, so that we might have seen more of you. You have come, I suppose, all this distance to bid a last, supplementary farewell to your dear favorite niece?"
"I have come to go with her to the frontier, if I may have the privilege of traveling with your trail of wagons."
"Why, assuredly. We are always glad of good company on the way," heartily responded the captain.
"Oh, beg pardon, and thank you very much; but I did not intend to 'beat' my way. Look there!" exclaimed Clarence, with a brighter smile, as he pointed to the commodious carriage, drawn by a pair of fine draught horses, that stood waiting for him, and to the covered wagon, drawn by a pair of stout mules, that was coming up behind.
"Oh! Ah! Yes, I see! You are traveling with your retinue. But is not this a very sudden move on your part?" demanded the captain.