“Dad says he’s felt all right ever since the day he disobeyed all his doctor’s orders at once down in Saint Malo, so he’s kept on disobeying them ever since. He had a big business deal on at Antwerp--buying an interest in a steamship line was the principal part--and as he wanted to buy straight from the men who owned the line he needed an interpreter that he could trust. So he cabled home, but the man he wanted was off on a fishing trip and missed the boat.” John chuckled. “I’m afraid he’ll pay pretty high for those fish. Then, having implicit confidence in Miss Wales’s judgment, he sent for me.” He looked at Betty. “You’ve been ‘Miss B. A.,’ as dad calls you, to me this trip, I can tell you. It’s been all my fault, I know, the way my father has felt about me, and I don’t blame him for not believing that I’ve braced up. Now that he does believe it, you can be sure I shan’t give him the faintest excuse for changing his mind. He’s a brick, when he gets started.” John stopped to laugh at his absurdly mixed metaphor.