MOTE IN THE EYE, AND HOW IT WAS REMOVED--CONCH TRUMPET AND
SIGNALS--TRAMP--ALARM
The next morning, while planning together the employments of the day,
Frank came in, holding his hand over his eye, having had a grain of sand
thrown into it by an unfortunate twitch of Dora’s tail. It pained him
excessively, and he found it almost impossible to keep from crying.
Mary ran quickly and brought a basin, for the purpose of his washing it
out. He however became frightened at finding his mouth and nose
immersed, and was near being strangled in the attempt. It would have
been better for so young a person, if Mary had made him hold back his
head, and dropped the water under the uplifted lid. She next proposed
to remove it by introducing the smooth head of a large needle to the
painful spot, and moving the mote away; but neither would Frank allow
this. Robert then took the matter in hand, and having in vain blown and
rubbed in various ways, endeavoured to remove the substance by drawing
the irritated lid over the other, in such a way as to make the lash of
one a sort of wiper to the other. But neither did this succeed. By
this time the eye had become much inflamed, and Frank began to whimper.
Harold asked him to bear it for a minute longer, and he would try old
Torgah’s plan. With a black filament of moss, the best substitute he
could devise for a horse hair, he made a little loop, which he inserted
under the uplifted lid, so as to enclose the foreign substance; then
letting the lid fall, he drew out the loop, and within it the grain of
sand. Robert observed that an almost infallible remedy is to bandage
the eye and take a nap; and Mary added, that it would be still more
certain if a flaxseed were put into the eye before going to sleep.
Frank, however, needed no further treatment; he bathed his eye with cold
water, wore a bandage for an hour, and then was as well as ever.
During the conversation that preceded this incident, Harold had brought
out a hammer and large nail, and now occupied himself with making a
smooth hole in the small end of one of the conches. Having succeeded,
he put the conch to his lips, and after several trials brought from it a
loud clear note like that of a bugle. Robert also, finding that the
sound came easily, called aloud, "Come here, sister, let us teach you
how to blow a trumpet."
It was not until after several attempts that Mary acquired the art.
Frank was much amused to see how she twisted and screwed her mouth to
make it fit the hole; and though he said nothing at the time, Harold had
afterwards reason to remember a lurking expression of sly humour dancing
about the corners of his mouth and eyes.
"Now, cousin," said Harold, when Mary had succeeded in bringing out the
notes with sufficient clearness, "if ever you wish to call us home when
we are within a mile of you at night, or half a mile during the day, you
have only to use this trumpet. For an ordinary call, sound a long loud
blast, but for _an alarm_, if there should be such a thing, sound two
long blasts, with the interval of a second. When you wish to call for
Frank, sound a short blast, for Robert two, and for me three.
In his different strolls through the forest, Harold had observed that
the wild turkeys frequented certain oaks, whose acorns were small and
sweet. It was part of his plan to capture a number of these birds in a
trap, and to keep them on hand as poultry, to be killed at pleasure. For
this purpose, it was necessary that the spot where the trap was to be
set should first be baited. He therefore proposed to Robert to spend
part of the forenoon in selecting and baiting several places; and with
this intention they left home, having their pockets filled with corn and
peas. It did not require long to select half a dozen such places,
within a moderate distance of the tent, to bait, and afterwards to mark
them so that they could be found.
Having completed this work, they were returning to the tent, when they
heard afar off the sound of the conch. It was indistinct and irregular
at first, as if Mary had not been able to adjust her mouth properly to
the hole; but presently a note came to them so clear and emphatic, that
Mum pricked up his ears, and trotted briskly on; and after a second’s
pause came another long blast. "Harold! Harold!" Robert said in a
quick and tremulous tone, "that is an alarm! I wonder what can be the
matter. Now there are two short blasts; they are for me; and now three
for you. Come, let us hurry. Something terrible must have happened to
Frank or to Sam."
They quickened their pace to a run, and were bursting through the bushes
and briers, when they again heard the two long blasts of alarm, followed
by the short ones, that called for each of them. They were seriously
disturbed, and continued their efforts until they came near enough to
see Mary walking about very composedly, and Frank sitting, not far from
the tent, with the conch lying at his feet. These signs of tranquillity
so far relieved their anxiety, that they slackened their pace to a
moderate walk, but their faces were red, and their breath short from
exertion. They began to hope that the alarm was on account of _good_
news instead of bad--perhaps the sight of a vessel on the coast. Robert
was trembling with excitement. A loud halloo roused the attention of
Frank, and springing lightly to his feet he ran to meet them.
"What is the matter?" asked Robert; but either Frank did not hear, or
did not choose to reply. He came up with a merry laugh, talking so fast
and loud, as to drown all the questions.
"Ha! ha!" said he, "I thought I could bring you! That was loud and
strong, wasn’t it?"
"You!" Robert inquired. "What do you mean? Did you blow the conch?"
"That I did," he replied; "I blew just as cousin Harold said we must, to
bring you all home."
"But, Frank," remonstrated Harold, "the conch sounded an alarm. It
said, Something is the matter. Now what was the matter?"
"O, not much," Frank answered, "only I was getting hungry, and thought
it was time for you all to come back. That was something, wasn’t it?"
"You wicked fellow!" said Robert, provoked out of all patience, to think
of their long run. "You have put us to a great deal of trouble.
Sister, how came you to let him frighten us so?"
"Really, I could not help it," she replied. "When I went to the spring
a little while since, he excused himself from going by saying that he
felt tired; but no sooner had I passed below the bluff, than I heard the
sound of the conch. I supposed at first it must be Sam, who had become
suddenly worse, and was blowing for you to return; so I filled my bucket
only half full, and hurried home; when I ascended the bluff I saw the
little monkey, with the conch in his hand, blowing away with all his
might."
"And didn’t it go well?" asked Frank.
The young wag looked so innocent of every intent except fun, and seemed
withal to think his trick so clever, that in spite of their discomfort,
the boys laughed heartily at the consternation he had produced, and at
the half comic, half tragic expression which his face assumed on
learning the consequences of his waggery. They gave him a serious
lecture, however, upon the subject, and told him that hereafter he must
not interfere with the signals. But as he seemed to have such an
uncommon aptitude for trumpeting, Harold promised to prepare him a conch
for his own use, on condition that he played them no more tricks. Frank
was delighted at this, and taking up the horn, blew, as he said, "all
sorts of crooked ways," to show what he could do. The boys were
astonished. Frank was the most skilful trumpeter of the company; and on
being questioned how he acquired the art, replied, that when he and his
mother had gone on a visit to one of her friends, during the preceding
summer, he and a negro boy used to go after the cows every evening, and
blow horns for their amusement.