Inside the house Mary Vanton, having assured herself that there would
be plenty to eat and drink when it was wanted, having approved the work
of her sons in building roaring wood fires in the fireplaces, went
upstairs and began to overhaul bedding. In this she had the help of the
governess while Keturah and the servant remained active in the kitchen.
There was a great deal of bedding in the house and Mary got it all out.
Some of it she carried down to one of the living rooms, requisitioning
John and Guy to struggle with the mattresses.
Then she went to her medicine closet and looked that over. Most of
the rough-and-ready remedies were there in reasonable quantities.
Alcohol, peroxide of hydrogen, iodine, camphor, and so on. There was
some prepared bandaging and, of course, linen could be torn up in
strips. She bethought herself of stimulants and was relieved to recall
a half-dozen bottles of brandy in the cellar.
Was there plenty of hot water?
What next?
Something new occurred to her always before she completed the task
in hand. At length she went through the house, upstairs and down.
Everything, she decided, was as nearly ready for the emergency as it
could be. The fires burned brightly in the living rooms and the smell
of coffee filled the place. In one of the living rooms four mattresses
were ranged on the floor and had been made up with sheets, pillows, and
coverlets. In the other the large table had been cleared of books and
papers. A cloth covered it and it was heaped high with piles of plates,
with hardtack, with some cold meat, with what bread there was, with
cups. In the centre stood several pots of coffee. In the kitchen the
servant was frying bacon, Keturah slicing it for her. The governess had
run upstairs to assure herself that Mermaid, the youngest, had not been
wakened by all the bustle, or to quiet her if she had. The two boys
were replenishing the fires and between times darting to the windows,
now the south and now the west windows. But they could see little or
nothing from either.
Mary completed her inspection and stepped to the south window. It was
at that instant that the lifeline reached the wreck.