The Little Rescuers
"Come on, you little duffer! You're only picking rubbish. We want to
get to the wild strawberries!"
"I'm tarred, and moss isn't rubbish! I fink I shall put it round my
Chris'mas tree."
Chris, Diana and Noel were taking a walk together. It was the following
Saturday, and Mrs. Inglefield, who encouraged independence in Chris,
assented gladly when he told her that the baker had told him of a field
which contained wild strawberries and that they would all like to go
and get them. Chris had never seen a wild strawberry in his life, but
he imagined them to be pretty much like those he had seen in the London
shops. It was rather a long walk for Noel, and he soon began to lag
behind and stop to look in the hedges for spoils. Chris felt impatient;
it was a hot afternoon in June, and the country lane was dusty and
breathless. No friendly trees shaded them from the glaring sun. Diana
trudged along with a smiling face. She was generally wrapt in dreams
when she was out of doors, but Noel's plaintive voice roused her.
"Take my hand," she said; "I'll help you along. It isn't much farther
now. It's that high field over there by the side of the wood, isn't it,
Chris?"
"Yes, that's it. We can sit down when we get there and eat."
"But we must bring some back for Mother."
"I'm raining!" announced Noel; "raining quite fast like I did in India!"
Diana laughed.
"You do say such things!" she said. "Take your handkerchief out and
wipe your face. We're all hot."
The lane along which they were walking was very narrow and winding. It
was a by-lane, and by the grassy ruts in it showed that it was not much
used.
As they rounded a corner they suddenly came upon a motor turned nearly
upside down in a hedge, and by the side of it a lady sat reclining
against a bank. She did not see them till they were right up to her,
for her eyes were shut, and she was groaning in an unhappy sort of way.
The children stood still, and then, doffing his cap, Chris stepped up
to her.
"Are you hurt, please? Can we help you?"
The lady started and looked up. Then she put her hand up to her head
and pulled her hat straight. She had a very cheerful-looking face and
seemed about the age of their mother.
"Thank goodness someone has come by at last! I thought in this
benighted country that no one would come to my help! Of course you can
help me, little boy, by fetching men from somewhere to right my car
and put it into the middle of the road again. If I hadn't smashed or
sprained my ankle, I could have walked back to the village and sent
someone to bring it along."
"I'll go at once," Chris said cheerfully. "There must be some policemen
about, and they'll see to everything."
The lady went into peals of laughter.
"Hark at him! A little Londoner, eh? The police may rescue people
in distress in London, but they don't exist in the country, my boy.
There's a single one here and there, but my experience is that never
by any chance do they turn up when one wants them. You must think of
someone better than a policeman. Get to the nearest farm. They'll send
some men along."
"There's that farm we passed a little time ago," said Diana. "Run back
there, Chris, and ask them to come."
"Of course they may be out in the fields working," said the lady; "but
get someone—anyone—quickly, if you can! I seem to have been here hours,
and have shouted myself hoarse."
Noel stepped up in front of her when Chris had run off. His eyes were
big with thought and anxiety.
"The best person who can help in a naxident is God," he remarked,
looking at her gravely; "I fink He's the Person to be asked to send the
men you want. For He knows just where they are."
Then the lady threw back her head and laughed more heartily than she
had done before.
"Oh, you delicious child!" she said. "I'm sure from your face and curls
you must be a cherub just flown down from heaven. Now, aren't you?
Confess you are."
"I don't know what a cherub is," said Noel, looking at her stolidly,
"but I haven't been in heaven since I was a baby."
"Please excuse him," interrupted Diana. "He's always talking like that.
We can't get him to be quiet about God."
She said the last word in a whisper.
"But," said the lady, "I shouldn't wonder if he were right. Could you
ask God to help us, as you seem to know Him better than the rest of us?"
She turned to Noel as she spoke, and in a moment he was on his knees in
the dusty lane.
"Please, God, send somebody very quickly to help this poor lady. For
Jesus' sake. Amen."
Then he got up.
"That's all right," he said calmly. "God always hears when anyone wants
help. Mums has told us so."
He looked a little defiantly at Diana as he spoke, for he knew she was
thoroughly disapproving of him.
But Diana did not heed him. She had seen the lady make a wry face and
clasp her foot with her hand.
"Can I bind my handkerchief round it?" she asked. "Or get some water to
bathe it with?"
"You are a little dear to think of such a thing, but I can't get my
shoe off, it hurts too much; and I was due to lunch with Lady Alice
at two o'clock. It's past three now. What will she think? Do you know
where her house is? I took a wrong turn, thinking I would make a short
cut, and then ran myself into the hedge in this twisty, twirly lane!
It's only the third time I've been out alone with my car. I suppose I
was careless."
"I know where Lady Alice lives. Mums has been to tea with her and has
shown us the house. It's over there. We can just see its chimneys."
"Well, now, that's splendid! May I send you off there to tell them
where I am? They'll send their car for me. And leave the cherub to take
care of me."
"I think I can go across the fields," said Diana, peeping over the
hedge.
This was an adventure after her own heart. She found a gate into the
field and sped away.
Noel heaved a sigh, then suddenly plumped down on the bank beside the
stranger.
"I'm so tarred," he said; "we've walked miles. We were going to pick
strawberries."
"Were you? How delightful! I hope the strawberries will wait for you.
Talk away. Tell me who you are and all about yourself. It will cheer me
up."
Noel began at once.
"I've comed from India. The other children haven't been there since
they were babies. Mums likes us all alike, but I know her bester than
the others, 'cause I've always, always been with her. And I've got a
Chris'mas tree. I planted it myself. I'm very fond of him, and I talk
to him a lot. He's rather sad now because the flowers are so pretty and
he isn't pretty, and he doesn't smell like the roses. But by and by,
when Chris'mas comes, he'll be beautiful, grand, and beautiful! And the
flowers will be dead and buried. He's really much better than they are,
because he lives longer. Chris and Dinah won't laugh at him when he's
dressed with beautiful lights and presents, and when he's in the middle
of the room and all of us dancing round him. I tell him about it when
he feels a little unhappy. And he nods his head and unnerstands."
"I'm most awfully interested," said the lady as Noel came to a pause.
"Go on. Tell me more."
Noel drew a long breath, and then he sprang to his feet. "Here's a man
in a cart, and I believe it is God's man, and he's got here first of
all."
Sure enough, a farm cart was coming round the corner, and the man who
was driving got down at once when he saw there had been an accident.
"You'm best get in my cart, mum, and I'll drive 'ee to the Hall," he
said when matters had been explained to him. "'Tisn't a one man's job
to get that car out o' ditch."
The lady looked at the rough dirty cart which had been used for carting
manure, and she smiled very sweetly:
"I think I'll wait, thank you. I've sent a little messenger to the
Hall, and they'll be sending a car for me."
The man rubbed the back of his head and looked first at her and then at
the car.
"Seems as if I be no use to ye."
"But you must be," Noel said, staring at him, "because God sent you. I
asked Him to. Oh, do give a pull to the car and I'll help you."
The man laughed at the tiny boy's offer. The car was a very small
one, but he set his shoulder to it, and after much vigorous effort he
actually got it righted.
Noel clapped his hands in triumph, and danced round him excitedly:
"I knew you'd do it!"
The lady was very pleased. She presented the man with two half-crowns
out of her purse, and then she tried to raise herself to her feet.
"If I could once get in!" she sighed. "But I'm afraid it is of no use.
I shouldn't be able to manage the car with no feet, and it is my right
one that is hurt. I am not a clever enough driver to do without it."
"Here's Chris coming with some other men," shouted Noel, "but we've
done it without them!"
"I think I shall be very glad of their help to bring my car along after
me," said the lady, who seemed willing to employ all who came up.
Chris seemed almost disappointed when he saw the car standing on its
four wheels in the lane.
"I've brought Mr. Down and Mr. Gates," he said importantly. "They were
working in the field and they came at once."
"But God's man got here first," said Noel.
For a moment there was silence; the men stared at each other, and then
the lady had a brilliant idea.
"Take one of the cushions out of the car, or perhaps the thick rug
would answer as well, two of you catch hold of each end, and I can then
be carried off to the Hall, where they are expecting me to lunch."
This was immediately done. She waved her hand to the little boys from
her improvised seat.
"Good-bye; you will have to come and see me. I have taken a house for
the summer about four miles off, and I am ever so grateful for your
help."
She seemed to have forgotten about Diana, and Chris asked Noel where
she was.
"She's gone to Lady Alice's. I don't believe she'll ever come back;
let's go on and get the strawberries."
After a little hesitation, Chris agreed to this.
"I like that lady," Noel announced as they went on their way. "She
laughs so when she talks. And she liked me to talk to her. I told her
all about my Chris'mas tree, and she said it was very interessing!"
"I bet she did!" Chris said with an unbelieving laugh.
Here Noel made a rush forwards. They had reached the top of the field,
and there was some red amongst the grass along a bank there.
But when Chris reached the spot he was bitterly disappointed.
"They're so tiny, they're not proper strawberries!"
"They taste nice and sweet," said Noel, putting some of the little
strawberries into his mouth. "Let's pick a lot of them."
They set to work. There were really a fine number on the bank, and
Chris began to wish Diana was with them.
"She's so quick," he said. "She'd pick a lot in no time."
But Diana did not come. There was no sign of her. And by the time they
had nearly filled their basket, Chris said they must go home.
On their way back, they passed the place where the accident had
happened.
The car was gone, but Noel's quick eyes spied something in the hedge.
He pounced upon it at once. It proved to be a small leather purse
attached to a little gold chain.
"What shall we do with it, Chris?"
"Take it to her," cried Chris, joyfully pouncing upon it and putting it
in his pocket. "Come on, Noel, hurry up! The Hall is ever so far off,
but it will be fun going there. I shouldn't wonder if they haven't kept
Dinah to tea."
"I found it," said Noel sulkily. "It's mine, it isn't yours."
"What does it matter who found it, you stupid! Why, you're beginning to
cry! What a baby! I'll give it to you to give to her when we get there.
Come on! What a slow coach you are!"
Noel struggled to keep up with his brother's quick pace, but at last he
gave up, and again dissolved into tears.
"I'm tarred. I've walked ever so many miles. I wiss I was home!"
"Then you go home, and I'll go on to the Hall."
"It isn't fair. I found it, and I like that lady. She smiled at me!"
Poor Noel was divided between his longing to go on and the desire to
rest his poor little legs. The afternoon had been very warm, and he was
tired out. By the time they came to the signpost at the cross-roads
which marked the way to the Hall, he had made up his mind to go home.
"We might take it to her to-morrow," he suggested.
"Oh, she must have it at once!" Chris said. "It has money in it. I
can hear it jingle. You always give up money at once. Besides, she
may be wanting to use it. You go on back to Mums and give her the
strawberries, and tell her all about it."
Noel brightened up. To give his mother anything was always a treat, and
he dearly liked telling her of any adventure that befell him.
So the little boys parted, and Noel reached home at last. His mother
met him at the door.
"Why, my darling, how warm you are!"
"And I'm tarred and firsty," said Noel, "and I'm raining all over me—"
"Where are the others? Come into the dining-room and I will get you a
glass of lemonade."
"Here are the strawberries, such tinies! But they taste very nice,
Mums. Dinah and Chris have both gone off about a lady who's at Lady
Alice's—"
Then he poured into his mother's ears the events of the afternoon. When
he had drunk the lemonade and had had his hands and face washed, and
was seated in his mother's lap in her boudoir, he began to feel better.
And then he suddenly put his arms round his mother's neck and hugged
her.
"I do feel sorry for the poor little boys who can't get on their
mothers' laps," he said.
"Ah!" said his mother with a sigh and a smile. "I'm afraid my children
will soon get beyond their mother's lap."
"I never shall," said Noel determinedly. "Not when I'm a grown-up big
man—"
"You're my baby-man now," said Mrs. Inglefield, laughing. "And I should
like to keep you so."
It was not very long afterwards that Chris and Diana came home
together. Diana had her story to tell first.
"I thought I should never get to Lady Alice's, it seemed such a long
way, and when I knocked at the big door I felt quite frightened. I told
the butler about the accident, and he took me into such a beautiful
big drawing-room, and there were a lot of people there, and Lady Alice
came up and kissed me, for she said she knew who I was, and then she
ordered out her car at once, but the chauffeur couldn't be found, he
had gone home to dinner, and so it all took time, and Lady Alice gave
me a real ice and some cake, and then said I had better go in the car,
and she sent her maid as well, and we were coming through the village
and had got to the narrow lane when we met two men carrying the lady on
a cushion, and so she was put very carefully in, and it hurt her and
she gave a little scream, and then she said I must come back with her
and tell her all about ourselves, for she wanted to be amused."
"But she wouldn't go to Lady Alice's; she said she must get straight
home because of her foot. And she lives in such a pretty little house,
Mums, and she has a dear old aunt who lives with her and is very small,
not much taller than I am, but so pretty, and she made such a fuss
when she heard about her foot. And she's called Constance—the old lady
called her Connie, and then one of the servants was sent for a doctor,
and old Miss Trent, that's the aunt's name, began to bathe the foot and
bandage it, and she let me help, and Miss Constance laughed most of the
time, though she called out too, and she said such funny things; she
made up a rhyme about herself, about taking out her car, and roaming
afar, and having a spill, and then being ill, and it ended up with:"
"'Having contracted a sprain,
I won't drive again;
I'll lie on my sofa
And become a poor loafer.'"
"And then she said she must have visitors to amuse her, and she wants
Noel to go to her on Monday."
Diana paused for breath. Noel clapped his hands, and cried out with
delight.
"Well now, I'll tell the rest," said Chris. "I went off to the Hall,
but when I got to the lodge the woman told me that Lady Alice had sent
her car to take the lady home, and I asked where it was, and the woman
told me it was called Ladywell Cottage, and was two miles off. I was
pretty well done, but as it happened a baker's cart was going that way,
and he took me up. It was fun driving along with him! I think bakers'
men must have a jolly time of it! And then I went up and knocked at
the door, and the doctor had just arrived, but the lady would see me
and thanked me for the purse, and I told her that Noel had picked it
up, but couldn't walk so far, so that's why she wants to see him next
Monday. And then the doctor said he would drive Dinah and me back, for
he was going to see Ted at the Rectory and it was all in his way. So we
had a jolly drive back in the doctor's car, and here we are!"
"I think you've had a lot of adventures," said his mother, smiling,
"but I am sorry for that poor girl's accident. I met her at the Hall
the other day. She has come into this part to spend the summer here.
Her name is Constance Trent. She lives with her brother, who is a
Harley Street doctor, and is a cousin of Lady Alice's. I don't know how
Noel will get to her, it is three miles from here."
"She said if her car was all right, she would send it for him. I wish
she had asked us all," said Diana. "I liked her, she's such fun!"
Then the nursery bell rang for tea, and Mrs. Inglefield took the
strawberries and put them upon a big plate and covered them with white
sugar, and said she must have nursery tea with them so that she could
enjoy the strawberries as well as they.
Nurse produced some cream, and the children thought they had never
tasted any fruit more delicious.
"It was worth getting hot and tired for," said Diana, "especially as
it helped us to rescue a lady in distress. I shall write my next story
about it, only I shall make her a princess in disguise."