“Well, this is a lark,” Rex thought as he caught sight of himself in the glass. “I wonder what Phineas Jones would say if he knew that instead of being taken for a confidence man I’m received as a son and a brother and dressed up in ‘the Square’s’ best clothes.”
Supper was ready by this time, and without any demur, which he knew would be useless, Rex sat down to the table which Dorcas had made so pretty, rejoicing now that she had done so, wondering if their guest would notice it, and feeling glad that he was in Bertha’s chair. He did notice everything, and especially the flowers and the extra seat, which he occupied, and which he knew was not put there for him, but probably for the handsome girl, who would come in when the storm was over, and he found himself thinking more of her than of the blessing which Mr. Leighton asked so reverently, adding a petition that God would care for the loved one wherever and in whatever danger she might be.
“Maybe that’s the girl; but where the dickens can she be that she’s in danger?” Rex thought, just as a clap of thunder louder than any which had preceded it shook the house and made Dorcas turn pale as she said to her father:
“Oh, do you suppose it will reach her?”
“I think not,” Mr. Leighton replied; then turning to Rex, he said, “My youngest daughter, Bertha, is on the sea,—sailed on the Teutonic this morning,—and Dorcas is afraid the storm may reach her.”
“Sailed this morning on the Teutonic!” Rex repeated. “So did my aunt, Mrs. Carter Hallam.”
“Mrs. Carter Hallam!” and Dorcas set down her cup of tea with such force that some of it was spilled upon the snowy cloth. “Why, that is the name of the lady with whom Bertha has gone as companion.”
It was Rex’s turn now to be surprised, and explanations followed.
“I supposed all the Hallams of Leicester were dead, and never thought of associating Mrs. Carter with them,” Mr. Leighton said, while Rex in turn explained that as Miss Leighton’s letter had been written in Boston and he had addressed her there for his aunt it did not occur to him that her home was here at the Homestead.
“Did you see her on the ship, and was she well?” Dorcas asked, and he replied that, as he reached the steamer only in time to say good-bye to his aunt, he did not see Miss Leighton, but he knew she was there and presumably well.