Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/110



A sound of gay chatter, followed by a peal of laughter, came from around the side of the house.

"That's that thar Betsy! Who you reckon she larfin' at now?" queried Aunt Peachy, tin cup raised to her protruding lips.

A step on the flagging! Elizabeth's heart lost a beat. A man's deep voice asking: "Where's Mother?" Then her two children standing arm in arm in the kitchen doorway!

"I walked all the way to the pike, Mother," said Betsy. "I was so sure he was coming. Here he is!"

"Mother!"

"My boy!"

Philip gave his mother one long kiss and then turned to his father, holding out his hand:

"Father, I am back."

"Humph! High time!" Rolfe Bolling shook his son's hand flabbily. There was something about Philip that made him feel uncomfortable. He tried to find the reason in his