"Hush, don't talk now," he said, as I tried to speak; "lie quiet now,
there's a dear fellow."
"Jack!" I said. I could not resist uttering his name, his old familiar
long-lost name.
"Yes, it's Jack," he whispered, "but don't talk now."
"You forgive me, Jack?" I murmured, heedless of his injunction.
"Yes, a hundred times!" he said, brushing back the hair from my
forehead, and putting his finger to my lips.
Then I obeyed him, and lay silent and happy all day. Happier with all
my pain than I had been for months.
The doctor came later on and looked at my arm.
"He'll do now, I think," said he, "but he will very likely be feverish
after it. You should have him taken to the hospital."
"Oh no," cried Jack. "He must stay here, please. I can look after him
quite well."
"If it was only the arm," said the doctor. "But he's had a bad fall and
is a good deal bruised and shaken besides. He would get better
attention, I think, at the hospital."
"I would so much sooner he stayed here," said Jack; "but if he'd really
be better at the hospital, I suppose I ought to let him go."
"I won't go to the hospital!" exclaimed I, making the longest speech I
had yet made since my accident, with a vehemence that positively
startled the two speakers.
This protest settled the question. If only a sick person threatens to
get excited about anything, he is pretty sure to have his own way. And
so it proved in my case.
"But will you be able to stay at home all day from business to look
after him?" asked the doctor.
"No, I'm afraid not," said Jack, "but I think I know some one who will.
He sha'n't be left alone, and I can always just run home in the dinner-
hour to see how he's getting on."
The doctor left, only half satisfied with this arrangement, and
repeating that it would have been far better to move me to the hospital.
When he was gone Jack came and smoothed my pillow. "I am glad you're to
stay," he said. "Now, for fear you should begin to talk, I'm going out
to Billy to get my boots blacked. So good-bye for a bit, old boy."
"But, Jack--" I began, trying to keep him.
"Not a word now," said he, going to the door. "Presently."
I was too contented and comfortable to fret myself about anything, still
more to puzzle my brains about what I couldn't understand. So I lay
still thinking of nothing, and knowing nothing except that I had found
my friend once more, and that he was more to me than ever.
Nothing makes one so sleepy as thinking of nothing at all; and long
before Jack returned from his visit to Billy I was asleep, and slept
soundly all through the night.
Next morning I woke invigorated in body and mind. Jack was up and about
before I opened my eyes. He was at my side in a moment as I moved.
"Well, you have had a sleep," he said, cheerily. "I have," replied I.
"But, Jack, where am I?"
"Oh, this is my lodgings," said he. "I'm pretty comfortable here."
I looked round the room. It was a poor, bare apartment, with only two
beds, a chair, a small table, and a washstand to furnish it. The table
was covered with papers and books.
"You've got a sitting-room too, I suppose?" I said, after taking the
room in.
He laughed.
"I find this quite as good a room to sit in as to lie in," said he, "for
the matter of that. But I have got the use of another room belonging to
a fellow-lodger. He's a literary man, and writes for the papers; but in
his spare moments he coaches me in Latin and Greek, in consideration of
which I give him half my room to sleep in."
"Whatever's he to do now when I'm here?" I asked.
"Oh, he's going to have a shake-down in his own room. You'll like him,
Fred; he's a very good-natured, clever man."
"How old?" I asked.
"About fifty, I should think. And I fancy he's seen a good deal of
trouble in his time, though I don't like to ask him."
"I say, Jack," I began in an embarrassed manner, "ever since that
time--"
"Shut up, now," said Jack, briskly. "The doctor says unless you obey me
in everything you're to go straight to the hospital. And one of my
rules is, you're to talk about nothing I don't approve of."
"I was only going to say--"
"There you go. I don't approve of what you were going to say. I
suppose you'll be interested to hear I reported your case to the firm
yesterday, and they were very sorry to hear of it, and told me there
were other fellows in the office they could have spared better. There's
a compliment!"
"Was Hawkesbury at the office?" I asked.
Jack's face clouded for a moment.
"Yes, Hawkesbury was there."
"You know he was with me when the accident happened?" I said, by way of
explanation.
"Oh," said Jack. "Hullo! here comes Billy. I hope, you won't be
horrified to have him to look after you while I'm at the office. He's
the only person I could think of."
"Billy and I are very good friends," I said, somewhat taken aback,
however, by the prospect of being consigned to that young gentleman's
charge for several hours every day.
"Here you are, Billy," said Jack, as the boy entered. "You needn't have
brought your blacking-box with you, though."
"What, ain't none of the blokes here got no boots, then?" remarked the
youth, depositing his burden.
"The bloke, as you call him, who lies there," said Jack, pointing to me,
"won't be putting on his boots for a good many days yet."
Billy approached my bed with his most profuse grin.
"I say, ain't you been and done it? Do you hear? you've broke your
arm!"
This piece of news being so remarkably unexpected visibly affected me.
"Yes," said Jack, "and I want you to sit here while I'm away, and see
nobody breaks it again."
"I'll give the fust bloke that tries it on a topper, so I will," said
Billy, fiercely, sitting down on his box and preparing to mount guard.
"I quite believe you," said Jack, laughing. "But mind, Billy, you
mustn't make a noise or disturb him when he's resting. And if anything
special happens and I'm badly wanted, you must run to my office and
fetch me. You know where it is?"
"Yaas, I know," said Billy.
"If Mr Smith comes up, you may let him in and make yourself scarce till
he goes away again."
"What Mr Smith?" I asked.
"Oh, my fellow-lodger. Isn't it funny his name's Smith? At least,
wouldn't it be funny if every other person weren't called Smith?"
"It is rather a large family," said I, laughing.
Billy having received his full instructions, including the serving of
certain provisions out of a cupboard in a corner of the room, made
himself comfortable on his perch, and sat eyeing me, after Jack had
gone, as if I were a criminal of some sort whom it was his duty to
prevent from escaping.
It was a queer situation to be in, certainly. Left alone in a friend's
lodging with a broken arm and other contusions, and a small shoeblack to
look after me, who had once robbed me of my penknife and a sixpence!
I was rather doubtful whether his new employment was quite as congenial
to him as his old. Indeed, I rather pitied him as he sat there silent
and motionless like a watch-dog on guard.
"You may stand on your hands if you like, Billy," I said, presently.
He eyed me sharply and doubtfully.
"You're 'avin' a lark with me," he said.
"No, I'm not. You really may do it."
"Ain't a-goin' to do it," replied he, decisively.
"Why not?" I asked.
"T'other bloke ain't said I'm to do it," replied he.
"Well," said I, "if you don't think he'd like it, don't do it. For I'm
sure he's very good to you, Billy, isn't he?"
"'Tain't no concern of yourn," responded my genial guardian.
After this there was a long silence, and I was getting drowsy, when
Billy said, "That there 'orse was a-goin' it."
"What horse?"
"Why, as if you didn't know! That there 'orse as was drivin' you blokes
a' Monday night."
"What, did you see us, then?" I asked.
"In corse I did. I seen you as I was a-comin' back from the racket
school. My eye, wasn't you tidy and screwed though! You don't ought to
be trusted with 'orses, you don't."
"I wasn't screwed, Billy," said I, "and I wasn't driving."
"No, that you wasn't driving. But I knows the bloke as was."
"Do you know Mr Whipcord?"
"Yaas, I knows the animal," he replied, with a grin. "He gave me a
doin' with his stick once, he did."
"But did you see me pitched out?" I asked, not feeling particularly
interested in the last reminiscence.
"In corse I did. I seen you. Thought you was dead, and I fetches the
bloke to yer, and the bloke sends me for the doctor, and the doctor--"
At this moment the door opened and a stranger entered.