And Mr. Kuypers gave his arm to Matty, and
Horace his to Laura, and Beverly his to Flossy, and Tom
brought up the rear with the Brick on his shoulders. And
Mr. Molyneux returned thanks and asked a blessing all
together. And then they fell to, on the turkey and on
the chicken pie. And they tried to talk about Colorado
and mining; about Gold Hill and Hale-and-Norcross, and
Uncle Sam and Overman and Yellow Jacket. But in spite of
them all, the talk would drift back to Bundy and his
various signs, "Our House" and Tom and Jerry; to the wife
of Mr. Whilthaugh; to Commodore Benbow; to old Mrs.
Gilbert and Delaware Avenue. And this was really quite
as much the fault of Mr. Kuypers as it was of any of the
Molyneux family. He seemed as much one of them as did
Tom himself. This anecdote of failure and that of
success kept cropping out. Walsingham's high-bred and
dignified enthusiasm for the triumph of the office, and
the satisfaction that Eben Ricketts would feel when he
was told that the Navy never had the vouchers,--all were
commented on. Then Mr. Molyneux would start and say, "We
are talking shop again. You say the autumn has been mild
in the mountains;" and then in two minutes they would be
on the trail of "Search and Look" again.
It was in one of these false starts that Mr. Kuypers
explained why he came, which in Horace's mind and perhaps
in the minds of the others had been the question most
puzzling of all.
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