NADINE'S ILLNESS.
On their entering the cell in which the Tambys were confined they found
Nadine lying upon the floor, as pale and still as though she were dead.
The magistrate was greatly alarmed.
"The poor child has died!" he exclaimed, taking hold of her cold hand.
"Brigadier, send one of your men off for a doctor immediately," and
when the gendarme had hurried out he lifted Nadine's hand tenderly.
"She's not dead! She is breathing!" cried the magistrate suddenly, in a
tone of relief and joy. And he proceeded to stroke her blanched cheeks
and forehead with his hands in a gentle way that seemed surprising in
such a stern old man.
Presently the doctor arrived all out of breath, for the brigadier had
made him come as fast as possible. After a careful examination of
Nadine he shook his head in a manner that was far from reassuring.
"Your Honor," he said, "the child must be at once removed to the
hospital. Her unconsciousness may continue for some hours longer, and
when she does revive it will be absolutely necessary that she should be
guarded against the slightest excitement. I shall go to the hospital at
once and arrange for her reception."
Half an hour later Nadine was lying in a bed in the hospital, and at
her side were Cæsar and Abel, in accordance with the directions of the
magistrate.
"It is best that the young girl should first see her brothers when
she comes to herself," said the thoughtful old man, and although the
brigadier ventured to protest, he had of course to obey the orders of
his superior.
Not until morning did the doctor, who had not left Nadine for a moment,
give his opinion as to the nature of her illness.
"She undoubtedly has an attack of brain fever," he said, looking
very grave, "and will require great care. You must give her every
attention," he added, turning to the Sister of Charity, in whose charge
Nadine would now be.
The Sister's heart was already full of sympathy for the sweet young
girl, and she replied in her soft voice:
"Be assured, sir, she shall want for nothing. Everything possible will
be done for her."
Despite the authority given by the magistrate, that Cæsar and Abel
should be permitted to remain near their sister, it must not be
supposed that they were set at liberty. They were still kept under
surveillance, although indeed there was small need for it. But the
brigadier persisted in believing in those two hundred francs to have
been stolen.
During the long anxious days while Nadine's life hung in the balance,
poor Cæsar did not concern himself as to whether there had been
any answer received from Morainville, until one morning the doctor
announced that, barring fresh complications which he could not then
foresee, Nadine would recover.
The two boys fairly shouted for joy at this good news, and, his mind
being thus relieved about his sister, Cæsar was able to think of
something else.
Naturally his first thought was about the Pradères, and he begged the
brigadier, who came to the hospital every day to make sure that his
youthful prisoners had not escaped, to take him to the magistrate in
order to find out what answer had been received.
The brigadier at first evaded the request, by pretending not to hear
what Cæsar said. But the boy reiterated his request, and the brigadier
had to reply.
"I must tell you, then," he said, "that your Madame Pradère has made no
reply, and this goes to confirm my suspicions."
"What!" cried Cæsar, incredulously. "No reply? You say that Madame
Pradère has not answered! But that is impossible! She knows perfectly
well that we didn't steal the money."
And, refusing to credit it, he was so importunate that at last for very
peace' sake the brigadier took him to the magistrate.
"Is it true, sir!" he asked, with anxious, apprehensive face and tone,
"that Madame Pradère has not answered the letter you wrote to her more
than a month ago?"
"Yes, my boy, it is true," responded the magistrate kindly. "But just
to-day came the explanation of her silence. She has suffered a great
calamity. On the very day the gendarmes put you in prison at Beaulieu,
Monsieur Pradère was killed by a fiery horse that he was training."
"M. Pradère killed!" murmured Cæsar sadly. "Oh! how sorry I am, and
Nadine will be so sorry too. They were such good friends to us!"
"You can easily understand," continued the magistrate, "that under
such circumstances the poor lady would not be giving attention to her
correspondence. But here now is the brief communication that she has
made to me:
"DEAR SIR:
"It is quite true that I gave the Tamby children the envelope
containing the two hundred francs. They are thoroughly honest
and very intelligent children, and I commend them to your kind
consideration.
"V. PRADÈRE."
"Surely now we are free!" cried Cæsar so soon as the magistrate had
finished reading the note.
"Yes, my child, you are free," was the kindly response. "But it will be
necessary for you to remain here for some time yet, because your sister
is not even convalescent, and her recovery may take a long time."
"That is so, sir," Cæsar returned. "But Abel and I will try to get
work in the neighborhood so that we may provide for ourselves and our
animals, and not be beholden to any one."
"You are a brave manly boy!" said the magistrate, clapping him upon the
shoulders, "and I will interest myself in obtaining employment for you.
I will guarantee your good character."
Thus matters went on until the middle of November. By that time,
although she had not by any means regained her full strength, Nadine
was so determined to have her own way that the doctor, having given her
a thousand injunctions to be very careful of herself, permitted her to
return to the van.
The three Tambys were then very happy at being reunited, and in
cherishing the hope that ere long they would have their sister restored
to them.
Alas, the poor young things had not yet drunk to the dregs the bitter
cup of trial that had been thrust upon them, for now Nalla began to be
a source of anxiety. He spent much of the time lying down and refused
to do his work. For long periods he would remain motionless, taking no
interest in anything except the voices of passing children, at which
sound he would suddenly raise his head, and would follow the children
as far as he could with his small bright eyes, while he uttered groans
like those he was wont to give forth when playing with little Lydia.
Nadine and Cæsar had no difficulty in deciding what was the matter
with him. He was mourning for his beloved little playmate who had so
strangely disappeared.
For days he would not take a bit of food--although he was usually a
great eater--and this in itself was enough to give them keen concern.
Yet nothing that they could do to comfort him had any effect. Evidently
they must simply wait for his grief to wear away unless they could
succeed in finding Lydia in the meantime.
At every place they visited their first proceeding was to make inquiry
as to whether any strolling performers had passed that way, and when
they were answered in the affirmative they would ask if it was noticed
whether they had with them a little girl six years of age and having
brown hair and eyes.
But nothing came of all their eager inquiries. Lydia seemed to have
vanished utterly.
Meanwhile the days went by, and the middle of December found them still
searching vainly for their lost sister. The weather, which had hitherto
been unusually mild, might at any time become cruelly cold.
It was with serious concern that the poor children regarded the advent
of the season which is so hard upon the poor, and among the poor there
are surely none who feel it more than the wandering folk who live in
vans. Not only have they to face the bitter cold as they travel from
one place to another, but the van, which is their dwelling, while well
enough on the fine warm days of summer, is but a poor apology for a
comfortable home when the winter winds blow fiercely.
What is even still more serious for these wandering artists, their
patrons naturally prefer remaining snugly at their own firesides with
their feet toasting at the ruddy flames to standing in the open air
watching a performance while the cold is nipping them.
The Tamby receipts were very scanty, and they suffered all the more
on that account, because they had first to consider Steady and Nalla
and make sure that they were well fed, even though Nalla's appetite
was not what it used to be. They had accordingly to buy a great deal
of hay, and hay was expensive. Nadine had always endeavored so far as
she was able to give the big creature the things he liked, and often
he would caress her with his trunk in token of his appreciation of her
attentions, but there were no more dainties for him now, nothing but
the plainest of fare.