The boy had called to inquire after his Chief's health and for any instructions he might wish to give, when MacFarlane, hearing the young hero's voice in the hall below, hurried down to greet him.

Ruth was leaning over the banister at the time and saw all that passed.

Once within reach MacFarlane strode up to Jack, and with the look on his face of a man who had at last found the son he had been hunting for all his life, laid his hand on the lad's shoulder.
"I think we understand each other, Breen,--don't we ?" he said simply, his voice breaking.
"I think so, sir," answered Jack, his own eyes aglow, as their hands met.
Nothing else had followed.

There was no outburst.

Both were men; in the broadest and strongest sense each had weighed the other.