FIRST AID
High above, the sun beat down relentlessly. Not a breath of air
stirred. There was the sleepy droning of the everlasting insects, the
number of which seemed always magnified at such a time. There had been
no rain for many a day. The dust was thick along the roads. Now and
then a passing automobile left an instant's breeze to be more than
paid for in the swirl of dust.
A solitary figure was scuffling along wearily. A casual glance marked
him as a knight of the road, a tramp. But if you had stopped to
observe a little more closely, you would have noted that he was not of
that type, unkempt and bedraggled though he appeared.
He had stopped at the last house on the road and then, after no little
hesitation, had asked for a drink of water. He had rested for a few
minutes--then he had gone on. The people in the house had noticed his
obvious weariness and had asked him if he did not wish to rest. But
the evident and simple kindness of the woman, who was Mrs. Quinn, had
seemingly embarrassed the man.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am," he had replied huskily, "but I must be on
my way."
And so he had trudged wearily on. Every move on this hot, breezeless
day was an ache, as if he were stepping on live and tender nerves. He
had been able to make but one half mile in an hour. Then nature could
do no more--and with a sigh, he had fallen to the ground. The heat had
proved his master.
Along the road from the village which was two miles from the house
where he had stopped, came Mary Lee. For her the heat had no terrors.
There was beauty in this day, hot and merciless though it had seemed
but a little while before. And, as you traveled with her, you also
partook of the joy she received from Nature, because, whatever its
guise, it was Nature nevertheless.
[Illustration: MARY LEE CAME TRIPPING DOWN THE ROAD]
It was months since Dr. Anderson and Aunt Madge had visited her.
Letty and Ruth had come almost every other week after that first
spring visit. She had seen Bob, too, almost the day after he had
arrived from abroad. With him had come his mother and his father. It
had been a wonderful summer for Mary Lee.
How her heart rejoiced at the sight of Bob, who had gotten out of the
auto a little way down the road so that Mary Lee, who had been his
playmate and friend, could see him walk up the road, no longer
crippled but like other boys. Bob had stayed over for a few days. Mr.
and Mrs. Cameron had been greatly pleased with Mary Lee. They were
surprised at the way she had grown and admired the tanned cheeks and
the clear eyes.
Bobbie was to come out again at the end of July and a few days later
Ruth and Edith and Letty were to come. And while all of them were at
the farm, Aunt Madge and Dr. Anderson would drive out.
As Mary Lee came tripping down the road, some of the joy in her was
for the days to come. She was not only thinking of the coming of her
friends but also of September when she would join these friends in
the city and be as one of them. A spirit of gratefulness mingled with
her other emotions as she thought of the rapid changes that had taken
place in the short time she had been out of the orphanage.
"Some day," she said very softly, "I am going to make my friends very
proud that they are my friends." It never occurred to this simple,
lovely little girl, that she had already given them cause for their
pride in the mutual friendship.
"When Bob and the girls come we can visit the Sanitarium. If we can
only get Dr. Anderson to go with us he can explain things to us and in
that way we can learn so much more. Then, too, we can have real
campfires and meetings and Bobbie can visit us as a Boy Scout."
So her mind planned it all, as she hastened along. There was no need
for hurrying, but it was never in the nature of this girl to move
slowly. But often she stopped along the road for there were many
things that drew her interest.
"You poor things," she said to some dry and withered looking ferns
along the way. "I shall practice being a real Red Cross Girl with
you." She hurried into the woods somewhat farther down the road and
from a brooklet brought some water with which to give the ferns new
life.
This act set her to dreaming of her future when she would be a Red
Cross Nurse and of Dr. Anderson who was to give her the opportunity to
gain the necessary experience. It was great work to relieve and cure
the sick.
Then across her line of vision came a blurred form which she could not
make out. She hurried forward. As she neared it she saw the body of a
man lying prone upon the ground.
For one moment there was a scared, helpless feeling within the girl.
There was a great sinking in her heart. She seemed very small, very
helpless. Then from somewhere within her a small voice whispered:
"Mary Lee, you are a Red Cross Girl."