“And I to see you, Dr. Sterling.”
A hearty hand-clasp followed.
“Why it is Dr. Sterling!” cried Aunt Betty, adjusting her glasses that she might better see him. “How good it seems to find you here in New York. How did you leave things up the Hudson, and especially at Deerhurst?”
“Same as of yore,” he replied. “Hans and Griselda, faithful souls, are keeping the place in spick and span condition.” His face lighted suddenly. “And here is Miss Dorothy, grown into a tall young lady since last I saw her.”
“Don’t accuse me of being too tall, Dr. Sterling,” said Dorothy, in a tone of mild reproof. “That is getting to be a sore subject with me. I have no intention of being either a toothpick or a beanstalk, though if what my friends tell me is true, I am in a fair way to be either, or both.”
Dr. Sterling laughed.
“You mustn’t mind a bit of a joke, you know. You are at an age where nothing can stop your growth. Your height seems to you exaggerated—that’s all—and your friends merely perpetuate the belief with the idea of teasing you.”
“I’ll take your word for that, doctor. And now, let me present my music teacher, Herr Deichenberg, and Mrs. Deichenberg,” Dorothy then said.
The introductions were duly acknowledged, after which the party went into the station, and thence to the street beyond.