"O, please do! And please tell me every thing, right away! What has been the trouble? We've been so dreadfully frightened. Philip will be back in a little while. I'm so glad I stayed!"
He sat down on one of the rustic benches in intense relief and excitement.
"Well, it's too long a story for me to go through now," laughed Jennison. But the laugh was a very short one. Again he looked sharply out into the empty garden.
"There was a grand mess about every thing—telegrams, letters, and so on. You'll hear all that from your father himself, and from Marcy. The best of my news is that they are both at a farm-house, not three miles from here! I have a horse and buggy out there this minute"—he pointed to the rear gate of the garden, over which, sure enough, rose the black top of a vehicle—"to take you over to them. We needn't lose a minute."
The strain released brought its shock. The boy's heart beat violently, with an inexpressible sense of returning comfort and joy.
"How good, how very good you are, sir!" he answered, innocently, casting aside all the
