nearly nine o'clock before
Mr. Evringham received a prompt answer to his message . His son appointed , as a place of meeting , the downtown hotel where he and his wife purposed spending the night before sailing . Father and son had not met for years , and Mr. Evringham debated a few minutes whether to take the gastronomic and social risk of dining with Harry _ en famille _ at the noisy hotel above mentioned , or to have dinner in assured comfort at his club -- finally deciding on the latter course . It was , therefore , nearly nine o'clock before his card was presented to Mr. and Mrs. Harry , to whom it brought considerable relief of mind , and they hastened down to the dingy parlor with alacrity . `` You see we thought you might accept our invitation to dinner , '' said Harry heartily , as he grasped his parent 's passive hand ; `` but your business hours are so short , I dare say you have been at home since the middle of the afternoon . '' As he spoke the hard lines of his father 's impassive face smote him with a thousand associations , many of them bringing remorse . He wondered how much his own conduct had had to do with graving them so deeply .