NORA TO THE RESCUE
For five days Nora had been a prisoner in her room--five long, bright,
interminable days. Through the open windows she had heard the sounds
of voices and laughter; she had even recognized the voices of Reggie
and the Campbells, but the only people she had seen were the doctor,
Mr. Crawford, Miss Beck, and Sarah. Either Miss Beck or Sarah was
always at her bedside, and several times each day Mr. Crawford would
come softly into the room, and stand looking down at her, with such
sorrow and tenderness in his eyes, that she longed to comfort him.
Twice she had tried to explain, but each time Miss Beck had silenced
her, with the same assurance that everything was all right, and she
would soon be quite well again. And then Kathleen’s father had gone
away, looking sadder than ever. One grain of comfort Nora had, and
that was in the fact that they were to go back to New York on the next
boat. Mr. Crawford was anxious to reach home as soon as possible, in
order to procure better medical advice for his little daughter. He
was not altogether satisfied with the opinion of the Bermuda doctor.
The steamer from New York was due on Monday, and would sail again on
Wednesday morning. It was Monday morning now, and in four days more,
provided all went well, they would be in New York. What would happen
after that Nora hardly dared to think, but at least Mummy would be
near, and in those long, solitary days the poor child had longed for
her mother with a longing that was almost too great to bear.
But on that glorious Monday morning there came a change, as welcome
to Nora as it was unexpected. In the first place, Dr. Walker did not
make his usual morning visit. Miss Beck said he had been called away,
to see a very sick patient, at the other end of the island. The next
thing that happened was that Miss Beck spent an unusual length of time
in looking out of the window, and finally left the room, leaving her
patient in Sarah’s charge. When she returned, some ten minutes later,
she was smiling, and there was a note of triumph in her voice.
“I have had a little talk with Mr. Crawford,” she announced to Sarah,
“and he says I may do as I think best. He has great confidence in my
judgment.”
“Do you think it’s the right thing to go against the doctor’s orders?”
questioned Sarah, doubtfully.
Miss Beck pursed her thin lips, and tossed her head scornfully.
“I flatter myself that I have had sufficient experience to judge for
myself sometimes,” she said. “Doctors don’t know everything in this
world; you can take it from me they don’t. That child hasn’t eaten
enough in the past two days to keep a canary bird alive, and what she
needs is a little fresh air and a change of scene, as I’ve just been
telling her father. The doctor may say what he chooses when he comes
home, but that won’t be before this evening, and in the meantime I’m
going to have my own way.”
Sarah was aghast. That any one should dare to disobey a doctor’s
orders seemed to her little less than criminal. But Miss Beck was a
professional nurse, and she herself was only a servant, so she wisely
held her peace. Miss Beck approached Nora’s bedside in her brisk,
decided way.
“I am going to let you get up for a while,” she said, stooping to touch
the child’s cool forehead. “You haven’t a particle of fever, and I am
sure the change will do you good.”
Nora--who had been lying with half-closed eyes, listlessly trying to
make up the plot for a new story--started up with a little cry of joy.
“Oh, may I really get up?” There was such untold relief in the child’s
voice, and in her brightening face, that Miss Beck felt more convinced
than ever that she was right in her opinion. Still, it would not do to
raise false hopes, so she answered guardedly:
“You seem better this morning, and if you will promise to be very
quiet, and do just as you are told, you may be dressed and go out on
the lawn for an hour. But remember, you are not to get excited, or tire
yourself in any way.”
“I’ll do anything you want me to if you’ll only let me get up,” said
Nora, humbly. “I didn’t know it was possible to get so terribly tired
of anything as I am of this bed.”
Miss Beck smiled, and for the first time Nora thought her smile was
rather pleasant.
“Well, you have had a good deal of it,” she admitted. “I would have
had you up days ago if it had rested with me, but the doctor--well, I
suppose he knew what he was talking about. Now I want you to stand up,
and tell me if your legs feel very weak.”
“They don’t feel weak at all,” declared Nora, and in proof thereof,
she gave herself a little shake, and promptly began skipping about the
room. “Oh, but it is good to be out of that horrid bed!” she cried
joyfully. “I feel as if I would like to run about ten miles. Please let
me dress myself; I just hate having people dress me.”
Miss Beck and Sarah exchanged glances, and Sarah whispered:
“Not right yet, you see. She was always the laziest child about doing
things for herself.”
Miss Beck said nothing, but she was looking very much puzzled. Indeed,
she was finding her present case about the most puzzling she had ever
undertaken. No objection was made, however, to Nora’s performing her
own toilet, and the two women watched her in ever-growing astonishment.
“She hasn’t lost flesh at any rate,” remarked Sarah, when Nora, after
several futile attempts to button her dress in the back, was forced to
appeal to the maid for assistance. “This dress was almost too big for
her before we left New York, and now it’s got to be let out.”
“What will she say when Kathleen comes back, and she finds all her
clothes too loose again?” thought Nora uneasily. “Oh, what an awful
mix-up it all is! But I’m so happy to be up again that I can’t worry
much about anything this morning.”
Mr. Crawford was waiting for his little daughter in the corridor, and
his greeting was so loving and tender, that Nora was conscious of a
sudden pang of shame and remorse at the thought of all the pain and
anxiety she was causing Kathleen’s father. These feelings were not
diminished when, after she had been comfortably installed in a steamer
chair on the lawn, in view of the tennis courts, Mr. Crawford produced
from his pocket a small leather case which he told her to open.
Nora complied, and in the next moment she uttered a little cry of
admiration, for in the case was a tiny gold watch, and attached to the
watch was a beautiful gold chain.
“Oh, how lovely, how very lovely!” she exclaimed. “Did you buy it? Is
it a present for somebody?”
“I certainly did buy it for a present,” said Mr. Crawford; smiling. “I
hoped you would like it, darling.”
“You mean you bought it for Kath--I mean for me!” gasped Nora. “Oh, but
it’s much too beautiful. I’m sure I ought not to take it.”
All the pleasure died suddenly out of Mr. Crawford’s face, and he
looked very grave and troubled.
“I want you to have it, dear,” he said in a voice that trembled a
little, and Nora, suddenly remembering that this was scarcely the way
in which little girls usually accepted presents from their fathers,
blushed a vivid crimson, and murmured an embarrassed “Thank you, oh,
thank you very much.”
But all her pleasure in the pretty trinket was gone, and she sat gazing
at it with dim, unseeing eyes, while Mr. Crawford and Miss Beck moved
away, and held a low-toned conversation. Oh, how sorry and ashamed
she felt! Of course the watch could be given to its rightful owner as
soon as she and Kathleen met, but in the meantime to keep it and even
wear it, seemed so--so almost dishonest. A sob rose in Nora’s throat,
and she had hard work in keeping back the rising tears. How gladly she
would have confessed everything at that moment; taken any punishment
they might have thought fit to inflict, but nobody would believe
her--they would only look shocked and frightened, and tell her not to
talk, and that she would soon be well again. If she spoke of it it
might mean an immediate return to that darkened room. Nora shuddered at
the horrible possibility. So after a little more reflection, she put
the watch and chain back in the case, and resolutely closed the lid.
“If I keep looking at them I may begin to be envious,” she told
herself. “I’ve always wanted a gold watch and chain more than anything
else in the world.”
It was very pleasant out there in the fresh air and sunshine, and
before long Nora found herself beginning to take an interest in
watching the tennis players. A tournament was in progress, and among
the many spectators she soon discovered the two Campbells and their
uncle and aunt. They did not see her, but Mr. and Mrs. Carew--who were
also watching the players--came to speak to her, and told her how glad
they were to see her out again.
“You don’t look as if you had been ill,” Mr. Carew said, kindly, to
which Nora replied that she felt very well indeed.
“Don’t you think I might go for a walk?” she added pleadingly, but Mr.
and Mrs. Carew shook their heads, and told her she must be a good girl,
and do just as Miss Beck said, and then they went back to their seats,
and Nora was left alone with her two guardians, Miss Beck and Sarah,
for Mr. Crawford had gone into the hotel after his conversation with
the nurse.
By and by Miss Beck rose.
“I am going to leave you for a little while,” she told Nora. “I want to
call on a friend at the hotel where I was staying with my last patient.
You may stay here with Sarah till I come back.”
It was with a feeling of distinct satisfaction that Nora watched the
nurse disappear in the distance. Miss Beck meant to be kind, she was
sure, but it was very tiresome to be constantly watched over, and she
was not accustomed to nurses. With Miss Beck safely out of the way,
perhaps Sarah might be persuaded to take her for just a little walk.
But when approached on the subject Sarah proved quite firm.
“You are to be kept perfectly quiet,” she said; “those were the
doctor’s orders. I’ll read to you if you like.”
Nora pouted. She was by nature a very amiable child, but five days of
enforced quiet in a darkened room had tried her nerves more than a
little.
“I don’t want to hear any reading, thank you,” she said, crossly, and
then she deliberately turned her back on Sarah, who thereupon opened an
old magazine she had found on a bench, and immediately became deeply
absorbed in an account of the exciting adventures of a band of Arctic
explorers.
For the next fifteen minutes nothing happened. Nora watched the tennis
players, and listened to the birds. Then suddenly, she caught sight of
a familiar figure approaching in her direction. It was Reggie Starr. At
sight of his friend, Reggie’s face brightened perceptibly, and he ran
quickly across the lawn to greet her.
“Hello!” he began, in his cheerful, matter-of-fact voice, “are you all
right again?”
“I was always all right,” returned Nora, who was still feeling
decidedly cross. “There never was anything the matter with me. They
only thought I was ill.”
Reggie opened his lips to say something; then evidently changed his
mind, and closed them again. There was a moment of rather embarrassed
silence, which Reggie broke.
“Why did you let them keep you in bed if there wasn’t anything the
matter with you?” he inquired, bluntly. “I bet people would have a
pretty hard time keeping me in bed.”
“Did you ever have a trained nurse?” Nora asked.
“Goodness no! I should hope not. Mother has them sometimes, though, and
they’re an awful bother.”
“Well, if you’d ever had one you’d understand why I had to stay in
bed,” said Nora. “It’s perfectly awful. They take your temperature
every two hours, and they won’t let you talk, and make you drink milk,
and--oh, don’t let’s talk about it. I’m up this morning, anyhow, and
it’s lovely out here. I’m just crazy to go for a walk.”
“Do you think you’d better?” Reggie inquired doubtfully. “Everybody
seems to think you’ve been very ill.”
“Well, I haven’t been very ill, even if they do think so, and if I
don’t have a good run soon, I shall--I believe I shall scream, or do
something awful.”
“The Campbells say----” began Reggie, but Nora cut him short.
“The Campbells don’t know anything about it,” she snapped. “I guess
I ought to know whether I’ve been ill or not, better than Marjorie
Campbell.”
Reggie looked very much puzzled, and then he suddenly remembered
something which during the past few days he had been quite ready to
forget. When a girl was so ill that she had to have a trained nurse,
and wasn’t allowed to see any of her friends, it didn’t seem quite fair
to remember that she hadn’t always told the truth. Besides, Marjorie
Campbell had dropped mysterious hints, which he had not altogether
understood, but which seemed to convey the impression that poor
Kathleen wasn’t to be held responsible for all the things she said.
But now, here was Kathleen herself, looking the picture of health, and
assuring him that she had never been ill at all.
“I guess I know what the trouble with you is,” he remarked, with a
sudden inspiration; “you’ve got such a lot of imagination, you just
can’t help making up things.”
Nora blushed.
“I know you think I tell fibs,” she said, sadly, “and I’m afraid I
can’t ever make people understand. I’ve tried to explain, but nobody
will believe me. It’s dreadful. Sometimes I feel as if I couldn’t bear
it.”
There were tears in Nora’s eyes, and her voice trembled. Reggie was
touched.
“Well, never mind,” he said, good-naturedly; “don’t let’s bother about
it. I say; the steamer’s coming. Wouldn’t you like to come down to the
pier, and watch the people get off?”
Nora glanced doubtfully at Sarah, who was by this time absorbed in a
detective story, and had not even noticed Reggie’s approach. Then she
rose resolutely.
“Come along,” she said, and in another second she was running across
the lawn so fast that even fleet-footed Reggie found some difficulty in
keeping pace with her.
“Oh, I say, hold on, not quite so fast!” gasped Reggie. “I should say
you could run, but what makes you in such a hurry? The steamer won’t be
in for ten minutes.”
“I don’t care anything about the steamer,” scoffed Nora. “All I want
is to get away quick, before Sarah sees me. Miss Beck has gone to call
on somebody at another hotel, but she told Sarah to watch me all the
time she was away. Oh, but I do feel better for that run!” And, having
reached what she considered a safe distance from the watchful Sarah,
Nora paused for breath.
Reggie grinned understandingly.
“I don’t believe she can catch up now,” he said, with a backward glance
in the direction from which they had come. “She’s rather fat, isn’t
she?”
“Not very, but she doesn’t like walking fast; she says it gives her a
pain in her side. I don’t want to worry her, but I just had to get
away for a few minutes. Oh, look at all the people on the pier.”
“There are the Campbells,” announced Reggie. “They’ve got the Allen
baby with them, too. Let’s go and speak to them.”
Nora hesitated, but at that very moment the small Percy Allen caught
sight of his beloved “Tathleen,” and, with a cry of joy, had dropped
his cousin Marjorie’s hand, and started on a run in her direction.
“Come back, baby,” shrieked Marjorie, starting in hot pursuit. “Oh,
he’ll be run over; I know he will!”
But baby had already dashed across the road to the imminent risk of
life and limb, and was clinging rapturously to Nora’s skirts.
“Percy wants to stay wis Tathleen,” he shouted. “Tathleen tell Percy
’tories.”
Nora laughed, and caught the little fellow up in her arms.
“Of course I’ll tell you stories, darling,” she said, kissing the
chubby little face. “Have you missed Tathleen all these long days?”
“Percy wely glad Tathleen tome back,” said the child, and he put up
a tiny hand and patted Nora’s cheek. But by this time Marjorie, pale
and breathless, had crossed the road, and borne down upon her naughty
little cousin.
“Naughty, naughty baby,” she scolded. “Suppose you had been run over;
what would Mamma have said to poor Cousin Marjorie? You promised to be
a good boy when Mamma let Cousin Marjorie take you to see the big boat
come in.”
“Percy not naughty boy,” objected that small person, whom Nora had now
set down on his feet. “Percy tame to see Tathleen.”
Then Marjorie, her anxiety about the baby being relieved, turned her
attention to Nora.
“I didn’t know you were well enough to be out, Kathleen,” she said,
doubtfully. “Is Sarah with you?”
“She came with me,” laughed Reggie. “She gave Sarah the slip. You ought
to have seen her run.”
Marjorie grew suddenly very grave.
“Here, Bobby,” she called to her brother, “you take charge of baby.
I’ve got to talk to Kathleen. Go with Cousin Bobby, Percy, there’s a
good boy.”
But Percy had no intention of being a good boy. On the contrary,
he promptly began to cry, declaring his firm intention of staying
with Tathleen, and no one else. Marjorie, however, was a stern
disciplinarian, and she was really a good deal frightened. So the
weeping Percy was led off by his tall cousin, who, in order to assuage
his grief, produced from his pocket a large and sticky lemon-drop,
which he promptly deposited in the baby’s open mouth.
“Now, Kathleen,” said Marjorie, slipping an arm round Nora’s waist,
“you and I are going back to the hotel together. You ought not to have
run away from Sarah. She’s probably very much frightened.”
“Of course she isn’t frightened,” protested Nora; “there isn’t anything
to be frightened about. Oh, if you only knew how glorious it is to be
out again! Why won’t you let Percy stay with me? I’d love to tell him a
story.”
“Because you’ve got to go right back to Sarah,” said Marjorie,
authoritatively. “Your father told Auntie Ruth that you were to be kept
perfectly quiet.”
Nora’s eyes flashed; her Irish blood was up. It was one thing to be
forced to obey Miss Beck, or even Sarah, but quite another to be
ordered about by a girl of her own age.
“I will not go back to Sarah until I am ready,” she announced
defiantly. “I would just like to see any one make me. I don’t believe
you know what it is to be shut up in a dark room, and have to stay in
bed for five whole days. Oh, here comes the steamer. Isn’t it crowded?”
Marjorie turned appealingly to the boys.
“Do help me,” she pleaded. “We’ve got to get her back to the hotel, you
know.”
“Oh, shucks!” exclaimed Reggie. “Do leave her alone. I don’t believe
there’s a single thing the matter with her. You wouldn’t either if you
had seen her run.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” protested Marjorie. “There is
something dreadful the matter with her. Mr. Crawford and Mrs. Carew are
terribly worried. Oh, Kathleen dear, please do come. I----”
A yell from Bobby brought his sister’s appeal to an abrupt end, and
caused her to turn her attention to something quite different.
“Look at the baby, oh, look quick! He’s choking or something.”
“Of course he’s choking,” cried the horrified Marjorie. “Did you let
him put anything in his mouth?”
“I gave him a lemon-drop to stop his crying,” Bobby admitted. “It must
have slipped down his throat. Oh, I say! what shall we do? He’s getting
purple in the face.”
“I don’t know, oh, I don’t know what to do!” wailed Marjorie, wringing
her hands. “Run and call somebody quick. Good gracious, Kathleen! what
in the world are you doing? She’s killing the baby. Oh, oh, oh!” And
Marjorie’s voice rose to an agonized shriek.
But Nora was not killing the small Percy; she was only shaking
him--shaking him with all her might--and even before Marjorie’s cry
of alarm had attracted the attention of the crowd on the pier, a small
object was seen to fly out of the baby’s mouth, and the choking and
strangling instantly ceased.
“He is all right now,” said a reassuring voice, and a kind-faced lady
bent tenderly over the still sobbing Percy. “There, there, little man,
there isn’t anything more to cry about. It isn’t pleasant to be shaken,
I know, but it’s much better than choking to death.”
“The little girl showed great presence of mind,” remarked another
bystander. “Does anybody know who she is?”
“I think she is that Crawford child,” replied the lady who had first
spoken. “And here comes Mr. Crawford himself,” she added, glancing at
two approaching figures, who, with pale, anxious faces, were rapidly
making their way towards the scene of action.
“Oh, Mr. Crawford,” cried Marjorie, running to meet Kathleen’s father,
“Kathleen’s all right. She’s just saved our baby. Bobby gave him a
lemon-drop, and it choked him, and I’m sure he would have died if it
hadn’t been for Kathleen. She just shook him and shook him till the
lemon-drop flew out of his mouth. Oh, Kathleen dear, I’m so grateful!”
And impulsive Marjorie threw her arms round her friend’s neck and
hugged her.
Mr. Crawford looked very much relieved.
“I didn’t know what had happened,” he said. “Kathleen, my darling, you
must come back to the hotel. It was wrong to run away by yourself; you
have frightened Sarah and me very much.”
Nora clasped her hands, and cast an imploring glance at Kathleen’s
father.
“Please, please don’t make me go back to that awful room,” she
implored. “I’m so tired of being ill; I really can’t stand it any
longer.”
Mr. Crawford looked very much troubled.
“The doctor----” he began, but Reggie interrupted.
“Excuse me, sir,” he said, “but I don’t think Kathleen is really ill.
She says she’s all right, and if you could have seen her run! I say,
Kathleen, how did you know what to do to stop that kid from choking?
Did you ever see any one choke before?”
“Yes, once,” said Nora, who, in the excitement of the moment, had quite
forgotten that she was still “playing a part.” “Jimmy Judson got a
cherry pit stuck in his throat, and Mrs. Judson shook him till it came
out.”
“Jimmy? Mrs. Judson?” repeated Mr. Crawford in amazement. “Kathleen,
what in the world are you talking about? I never heard of any such
people.”
Then Nora remembered, and all the color died suddenly out of her face.
“I--I forgot,” she stammered; “I oughtn’t to have talked about the
Judsons. They’re just some people I know, but---- Oh, look, look! that
lady and the little girl coming up the pier! It is, it really is! Oh,
Mummy, Mummy!” And to the utter amazement of her companions, Nora
dashed away down the road, and in another moment had flung herself into
the arms of a little lady in black, who, having dropped a suit case, an
umbrella and several other belongings, was holding her as if she never
meant to let her go again.
But that was not the only extraordinary thing that had happened, for
as Nora dashed towards her mother, another little figure was dashing
in the opposite direction, and at the very same moment that Nora flung
herself upon the little lady in black, two other small arms were
clinging round Mr. Crawford’s neck, and an eager, excited voice was
crying:
“Oh, Daddy, Daddy darling, I’m so glad to get here! Just think of
Nora’s getting carried off to Bermuda instead of me! Mother said we
should come on the next steamer, but we had a whole week to wait, and
it was awful. Oh, Daddy, what makes you look so queer? Aren’t you glad
to see your own little Kathleen?”
[Illustration: AT THE VERY SAME MOMENT THAT NORA HAD FLUNG HERSELF UPON
THE LITTLE LADY IN BLACK, TWO OTHER SMALL ARMS WERE CLINGING ROUND MR.
CRAWFORD’S NECK.--_Page 220._]