"A gentleman in the parlor to see you, sir."
John's face flashes; the instantaneous thought flashes into his mind that a messenger has at length come from the Moorish doctor.
He enters.
His eyes are dazzled a little by the glare of the sun on white buildings, and the room is dim. A man's figure advances toward him. Surely that step is familiar. Good heavens, what a shock comes upon him!
"Father!"
"John, my boy!"
He has believed this father to be at the other side of the world. He is surprised at the warmth of the greeting he receives. Really, this is quite unlike the proud man John has known all his life, a man who seemed to ever surround himself with a wall of coldness.
A sudden shock runs through John's frame. It is as if he has been given the negative and positive ends of a battery. He believes that his mother is here, in this city. Can that have anything to do with his father's coming?
A feeling of resentment springs up, then dies away as he gets a good look at his parent's face.
"Father, what has happened? Have you failed; has any disaster come upon us?"