“Oh, papa!”
“It will do him good. If I sent for him and brought him back against his will, he would probably start off again when he has a good chance.”
Jennie could not quite follow her father in his reasoning, and was inclined to think him hard and unfeeling. She missed her brother, who, whatever his faults, treated her tolerably well, and was at any rate a good deal of company, being the only other young person in the house.
Just then the servant entered with three letters, which he laid down beside his master’s plate.
Mr. Taylor hastily scanned the addresses.
“Here is a letter from Henry,” he said, in a tone of satisfaction.
“Oh, read it quick, papa!”
This was the letter which Mr. Taylor read aloud, almost too deliberately for the impatience of his daughter:
“Dear Father: I am alive and well, and hope to see you in a few days. I guess I made a mistake in running away, though I didn’t think so at the time, for I wanted to see life, and have adventures. I don’t know how I should have got along if I hadn’t met Philip Gray. He’s a tip-top fellow, and is paying my expenses. I told him you would pay him back. He has got me off the idea of going West to kill Indians.”
“Oh, papa!” exclaimed Jennie, opening her eyes wide. “I didn’t know that was what Henry went for.”