"Oh, lad," he said softly, "I been waitin' for you years an' years,
seems like!"

Barry crossed the room as noiselessly, as swiftly, as a flying shadow.

"Sit down!" he commanded, and Byrne caught a faint ring in the voice,
like the shiver of metal striking steel.

Joe Cumberland obeyed without a word, and then lay back at full length
upon the couch--a palsy had seized on him, and the hand which rested on
the shoulder of Dan Barry was shaking. By the couch came the tall dog,
and crouched, staring up in the master's face; then the younger man
turned his face towards Byrne and the girl. Those thin-cut nostrils
expanded, the lips compressed, and Byrne dared not look into the flare
of the eyes.

"Who done this?" asked Barry, and still the shiver of cold metal rang in
his voice. "Who's done this?"

"Steady, lad," said Joe Cumberland faintly. "They ain't no call for
fightin'. Steady, Dan, boy. An' don't leave me!"

Byrne caught a signal from Kate and followed her obediently from the
room.

"Let them be alone," she said.

"Impossible!" protested the doctor. "Your father is lapsed into a most
dangerous condition. The physical inertia which has held him for so long