No call had come from Barry. She finished dinner and wandered restlessly from room to room.
When nine o'clock struck, she crept into the General's library, and found him in his big chair reading and smoking.
She sat on a little stool beside him, and laid her head against his knee. Presently his hand slipped from his book and touched her curls. And then both sat looking into the fire.
"If your mother had lived, my darling," the old man said, "she would have made things easier for you."
"About Barry's going away?"
"Yes."
"It seems silly for him to go, Dad. Surely there's something here for him to do."
"Gordon thinks that the trip will bring out his manhood, make him less of a boy."
"I don't think Gordon understands Barry."
"And you do, baby? I'm afraid you spoil him."