The sound of voices in the hall brought both girls to themselves.
“Dare we come out?” asked Uncle Peabody, cautiously, pausing at the door. “These back-sliders are very repentant, and I will vouch for their good behavior.”
“There is only one of us who requires forgiveness,” added Armstrong, frankly, advancing to the divan. “I owe you both an apology; first of all to my wife, for not heeding her good advice, and then to my ‘sister-worker,’ as Cerini calls her, for adding to her discomfiture.”
“If Inez will forgive you, I will cheerfully add my absolution,” replied Helen, forcing a smile.
“I was really afraid that I was going to lose my right-hand man,” continued Armstrong by way of explanation, “and my work must then have come to an abrupt conclusion.”
“You give me altogether too much credit,” replied Inez. “The work is already so much a part of yourself that you could not drop it if you lost a dozen ‘sister-workers.’”
“It must never come to that, Jack,” added Helen, seriously. “Inez will surely stay until the book is completed, and I shall do what little I can to help it to a glorious success.”
“You are a sweet, sympathizing little wife.” Armstrong placed his hand affectionately upon her shoulder. “Your interest in it will be all that I need to make it so.”
Emory and Uncle Peabody instinctively glanced at each other, and for a moment their eyes met. It was but an instant, yet in that brief exchange each knew where the other stood.