But they were very nearly at the end of the journey.
The roar of the rapids was in their ears, and Katherine was thinking with a sigh of relief that she would soon be able to rest her aching arms.
Suddenly Miles leant forward and spoke.

"I'm afraid there is something wrong at home.

Phil has just dashed out of the store door, looking as white as chalk.

He beckoned to us to hurry, and now he has rushed back again." "Father! Perhaps he is not so well," exclaimed Katherine, with a quick terror gripping at her heart.

Then she thought with a swift compunction of the stranger they were bringing home, and wondered if her father would resent the intrusion.
But Phil had run out again just as the boat grounded against the bank, and now he began shouting: "Oh, do come quick; Father is dreadfully ill, and Nellie does not know what to do with him." "You go first; the boy will help me," said Jervis Ferrars, hurrying Katherine out of the boat.
She landed with a bound and tried to run, but her water-logged garments clung so closely about her that she could only walk, and the few steps to the door seemed like a mile.
"Nellie says it is a stroke, and she is afraid Father is dying," sobbed Phil, who was running to and fro in a distracted fashion.
A faint cry broke from Katherine, and she caught at the doorpost to save herself.