"Sho! you don't say! Mrs. Dunn--your friend here--said he was laid up
with a cold, but I didn't realize 'twas as bad as that. So you didn't
know I was comin' at all."

"No. We--we have not heard from you since he returned."

"That's too bad. I hope I sha'n't put you out any, droppin' in on
you this way. You mustn't treat me as comp'ny, you know. If 'tain't
convenient, if your spare room ain't ready so soon after movin', or
anything of that kind, I can go to a hotel somewheres for a day or so.
Hadn't I better, don't you think?"

Caroline hesitated. If only they might have been spared this public
humiliation. If the Dunns had not been there. It was bad enough to
have this dreadful country uncle come at all; but to have him come now,
before they were prepared, before any explanations had been made! What
should she do?

Her brother, fidgeting at her elbow, not daring to look at Malcolm
Dunn, who, he knew, was thoroughly enjoying the scene, could stand it no
longer.

"Caro," he snapped, "what are you waiting for? Don't you KNOW that the
rooms are not ready? Of course they're not! We're sorry, and all that,
but Graves didn't tell us and we weren't prepared. Certainly he'll have
to go to the hotel, for--for the present."

He ventured to raise his eyes and glare indignantly at the captain.
Finding the latter looking intently at him, he dropped them again and