"We already count you one of us, Philip, and we shall accept nothing less."
"Then am I rich in friendship!" he exclaimed. "The law of compensation gives a greater joy of realization to one who has drifted than to him who has lived a normal existence: such a man is spared the depths, but he can never reach the heights."
Two duster-clad, begoggled figures burst unceremoniously through the hallway onto the piazza where Marian and Hamlen had been scrupulously left alone by a comprehending family.
"Well, I'm glad to find some signs of life!" cried a familiar voice.
"Edith!" Marian exclaimed. "Where on earth did you come from? And Mr. Cosden!"
"Connie and I crept up on the house to surprise you," she explained, as greetings were exchanged all around, "but we began to think the joke was on us and we'd struck the morgue by mistake. Where are the people anyhow? We can't stay but a minute."
"Here we are!" Merry answered her, and as if by magic the entire family appeared from various directions.
"Where did you come from, where are you going, and why can't you stay but a minute?" Huntington demanded of Cosden as he grasped his hand.
Cosden grinned and looked at Edith.
"Oh, go ahead and tell them if you want to," she remarked indifferently. "They're sure to find it out some time, and it might as well be now."