HIS HAIR WAS CONSIDERABLY LONGER than I remembered, and his beard wasn’t so neat, but that was only to be expected when he’d been out riding circuit for two or three months. Professor Jeffries introduced him to Papa and Mr. Harrison and Lan, but when he got to William and me, Wash smiled broadly and said, “I remember Miss Rothmer fine, and Mr. Graham, too, though it’s been a while.”“I wasn’t expecting you to come yourself, Mr. Morris,” Professor Jeffries said with a glance at Mr. Harrison. “Your work—”“Well, now, you haven’t seen the state the settlements are in out on the edge of the frontier,” Wash said. “They need help, and fast. And I figure the fastest way for me to get an answer out to them is to be there when you all work it out.” He shook his head, and added, “Besides, I need supplies. I ran out of coffee a couple of weeks back.”“We have coffee,” I said. “It was right at the top of Papa’s list, and I packed it up myself. I can make up a pot right now, if you like.”“Miss Rothmer, your father is a wise man,”
