“I haven’t told you any yet,” countered Jim.
“Yes, you have,” declared Joe. “You’ve told me everything. I know that everything’s all right between you and Clara.”
“Clara!” repeated Jim, dwelling on the name. “Clara! Say, Joe, that sister of yours is—is— Oh, well, what’s the use? There isn’t any word in the English language to describe her. She’s—she’s——”
“Yes, I know,” laughed Joe. “I’m her brother. Now, old boy, take a minute to get your breath, and then tell me the whole story.”
So Jim perforce had to restrain his ecstasies and get down to earth, while Joe listened happily to all the details of the visit that had swept away the last shadow of misunderstanding between his sister and his dearest friend.
“You were right, Joe, when you said that five minutes’ talk, face to face, would wipe out all misunderstanding,” said Jim. “Why, in less than five minutes after I saw her I was the happiest fellow on earth. If you could have seen the way she flew to me!”
“What about that Pepperil?” asked Joe.
“Never was in it for a minute,” declared Jim, happily. “Of course, the poor man was in love with her; but you can’t blame him for that. Who wouldn’t be? As a matter of fact, I think he was trying to propose to her at the time I got there. But she forgot he was alive when she saw me. You see, she’d simply tolerated him for the sake of your father’s invention that Pepperil had arranged to finance. She couldn’t be rude to him for fear of injuring the deal, though he bored her to death. What with the nuisance of his hanging around there and your father’s anxiety about his invention and your mother’s sickness and the cares of the household bearing down upon her, the poor girl was nearly crazy. Told me that when she sat down to write to me her head was in such a whirl that she hardly knew what she was writing. That’s why her letters sometimes seemed so abstracted and unsatisfying. But now the deal has gone through, your mother’s getting steadily better, Pepperil’s sailing for Europe, and we’re going to be married as soon as the baseball season is over.”
“Fine!” cried Joe, his eyes beaming.