MRS. MAY still stood at the cottage door, and the keeper, warned by the
light, called from a little distance. "Here we are, Mrs. May," he said,
as cheerfully as might be. "He's all right--just had a little accident,
that's all. So I'm carryin' him. Don't be frightened; get a little
water--I think he's got a bit of a cut on the head. But it's nothing to
fluster about." . . . And so assuring and protesting, Bob brought the old
man in.
The woman saw the staring grey face and the blood. "O-o-o--my God!" she
quavered, stricken sick and pale. "He's--he's--"
"No, no. No, no! Keep steady and help. Shift the table, an' I'll put
him down on the rug."
She mastered herself, and said no more. The old man, whose babble had
sunk to an indistinct mutter, was no sooner laid on the floor than he
made a vague effort to rise, as though to continue on his way. But he
was feebler than before, and Bob Smallpiece pressed him gently back upon
the new-mended coat, doubled to make a pillow.
Nan May, tense and white, curbed her agitation, ministering and suffering
in silence. Years before a man had been carried home to her thus, but
then all was over, and after the first numbness grief could take its
vent. Once she asked Bob Smallpiece, in a whisper, how it had happened.
He told how little he knew, and save for passing the words to Bessy,
wakened by unwonted sounds, Mrs. May said nothing. Bessy, in her
nightgown, sat on the stairs, hugging her crutch, and sobbing with what
quietness she could compel of herself.
There was a little brandy in a quartern bottle, and the keeper thought it
well to force the spirit between the old man's teeth, while Mrs. May
bathed the head and washed away the clotted blood. As they did so the
wheels of the doctor's dog-cart were heard in the lane, and soon the
doctor came in at the door, pulling off his gloves.
Johnny stood, pale, helpless, and still almost breathless, behind the
group, while the doctor knelt at his grandfather's side. There was a
contused wound at the top of the head, the doctor could see, a little
back, not serious. But blood still dripped from the ears, and the doctor
shook his head. "Fracture of the base," he said, as to himself.
Reviving a little, because of the brandy and the bathing, the old man
once more made a motion as if to rise, his eyes grew brighter, though
fixed still, and his voice rose distinctly as ever.
"--took the bag in, yes. London's comin' fast, London's comin' an'
a-frightenin' out the butterflies. London's a-drivin' the butterflies
out o' my round, out o' my round, an' butterflies can't live near it.
London's out o' my round an' I've done my round an' now I'll give in the
empty bag. Take the bag: an' look for the pension. That's the 'vantage
o' the Pos'-Office, John. Some gets pensions but some don', but the
butterflies'll last my time I hope: an' Haskins he kep' bees, but I'm
hopin' to finish my roun'--" and so on and so on till the voice fell
again and the muttering was fainter than before.
Bob Smallpiece stood awkwardly by, unwilling to remain a useless
intruder, but just as reluctant to desert friends in trouble. Presently
he bethought himself that work was still to do in inquiry how the old
man's hurt had befallen, whether by accident or attack; perhaps, indeed,
to inform the police, and that in good time. So he asked, turning his
hat about in his hands, if there was anything else he could do.
"Nothing more, Smallpiece, thanks," the doctor said, with an unmistakable
lift of the brows and a glance at the door.
"God bless you for helpin' us, Mr. Smallpiece," Mrs. May said as she let
him out. "I'll let you know how he is in the mornin' if you can't call."
And when the door was shut, "Go to bed, Johnny, my boy, and take a rest."
But Johnny went no farther than the stairs, and sat there with his
sister.
The old man's muttering ceased wholly, and he breathed heavily,
stertorously. The doctor rose to his feet and turned to Mrs. May.
"Won't you tell me, sir," she said. "Is it--is it--"
"It is very serious," the doctor said gravely; and added with impressive
slowness, "very serious indeed."
The woman took a grip of the table, and caught three quick breaths.
"You must keep yourself calm, and you must bear up. You must prepare
yourself--in case of something very bad indeed."
Twice she tried to speak, but was mute; and then, "No hope?" she said,
more to sight than to hearing.
He put his hand kindly on her shoulder. "It would be wrong of me to
encourage it," he said. "As for what I can do, it is all over. . . .
But you must bear up," he went on firmly, as, guided to a chair, she bent
forward and covered her face. "Drink this--" He took a small bottle
from his bag, poured something into a cup and added water. "Drink
it--drink it up; all of it. . . . I must go. . . . You've your children
to think of, remember. Come to your mother, my boy. . . . "
He was gone, and the children stood with their arms about their mother.
The old man's breathing, which had grown heavier and louder still,
presently eased again, and his eyes closed drowsily. At this the woman
looked up with an impossible hope in her heart. Truly, the breath was
soft and natural, and the drawn lines had gone from the face: he must be
sleeping. Why had she not thought to ask Bob Smallpiece to carry him up
to bed? And why had the doctor not ordered it? Softly she turned the
wet cloth that lay over the wound.
The breath grew lighter and still lighter, and more peaceful the face,
till one might almost trace a smile. Quieter and quieter, and still more
peaceful: till all was peace indeed.