“Brother,” she cried, “I’ve often heard of tears of joy; but I didn’t think I should live to say they were the only ones I had shed since I was a little child! But there’s no mistake about those shoes. And there’s no doubt about anything else either.”
“Cobbler” Horn was, perhaps, quite as confident as his sister; but he was a little more cautious.
“Yes, Jemima,” he said; “but we must be careful. A mistake would be dreadful—both on our own account, and on that of—of Miss Owen. We must send for Mr. and Mrs. Burton at once. Mr. Durnford will telegraph. It will be necessary, of course, to tell him of our discovery; but he may be trusted not to breathe it to any one else.”
Miss Jemima readily assented to her brother’s proposal. Mr. Durnford was sent for, and came without delay. His astonishment on hearing the wonderful news his friends had to tell was hardly as great as they expected. It is possible that this arose from the fact that he was acquainted with the story of Miss Owen, and that his eyes and ears had been open during the last few months. It was, however, with no lack of heartiness that he complied with the request to send a telegram summoning Mr. and Mrs. Burton to “Cobbler” Horn’s bedside.
CHAPTER XL.
TOMMY DUDGEON’S CONTRIBUTION.
After the despatch of the telegram, the words of Tommy Dudgeon, with reference to the young secretary, recurred once more to the mind of “Cobbler” Horn, and he mentioned them to his sister.
“This must have been what the good fellow meant,” he said. “You remember, Jemima, how fond they were of each other—Tommy and the child?”
“Yes,” responded Miss Jemima, reluctantly; for she still retained her dislike for “those stupid Dudgeons.”