“May I come back when I have given it to him, papa?” she asked, as she took it up and turned to go.
“Yes; you may always come in when I am here; your father loves to have you with him.”
There was a flash of joy in the beautiful eyes looking into his, and the doctor thought, as he took the note-book from her hand, that he had never seen a brighter, happier face.
“Many thanks, my dear,” he said, lifting his hat with a bow and smile, then turned his horse’s head and galloped away.
Elsie looked after him for a moment, then hastened back to her father.
He greeted her entrance with a smile full of fatherly love and pride.
“Take off your hat and cloak,” he said, “and ring for a servant to carry them away.”
She did so, then came and stood close at his side, putting her arm around his neck, and laying her cheek to his.
“My papa! my own dear, dear papa!” she murmured lovingly.
“My precious little daughter!” he responded, laying down his paper and drawing her to his knee. “I thought I saw a cloud on my darling’s face as she peeped in at the door yonder a few moments since. What troubled you, dearest? Tell papa all about it.”