CHAPTER XXIX 

 FINIS 



WHILE the burros were being unpacked and unsad- 

 dled we went over to the office to report our return, 

 in case Supervisor Johns had not heard the excite- 

 ment caused by our entry. 



As we entered the Supervisor's sanctum we saw 

 a huge man of about fifty years, dressed rather 

 formally and imposing to a degree, seated comfort- 

 ably in the largest chair in the room. 



He smiled cordially as we entered. 



" Gentlemen," said Johns, impressively, "permit 

 me to introduce Mr. Wetherby." 



We gasped, as Horace, with an astonished cry of 

 " Father !" sprang forward and received the paren- 

 tal embrace. 



The gentleman turned toward us. His mien was 

 suave and dignified. He reminded us strongly of 

 Horace at his best. But in his eyes there shone that 

 which revealed the difference between them a look 

 of conscious power, of hard-won wisdom. Where 

 the boy gazed out on life naively, and coloured it 

 with his own imaginings and thoughts, the shrewd, 

 objective glance of the older man penetrated to the 

 essence. 



197 



