Aunt Jo's scrap bag, Volume 1 : $b My boys, etc.Alcott, Louisa May
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Aunt Jo's scrap bag, Volume 1 : $b My boys, etc.
Alcott, Louisa May
Children's stories
Jack was a modest boy; but he was so afraid that Nanny would lose her
chance, that he forgot himself, and told the little story as fast as he
could--told it well, too, I fancy; for the doctor listened attentively,
his eye going from the boy's eager, flushed face, to the pale patient
one beside him, as if the two little figures, shabby though they were,
illustrated the story better than the finest artist could have done.
When Jack ended, the doctor sat Nanny on his knee, gently lifted up the
half-shut eyelids, and after examining the film a minute, stroked her
pretty hair, and said so kindly that she nestled her little hand
confidingly into his, 'I think I can help you, my dear. Tell me where
you live, and I'll attend to it at once, for it's high time something
was done.'
Jack told him, adding, with a manly air, as he showed the money, 'I can
pay you, sir, if fifty dollars is enough.'
'Quite enough,' said the doctor, with a droll smile.
'If it isn't, I'll work for the rest, if you'll trust me. Please save
Nanny's eyes, and I'll do any thing to pay you!' cried Jack, getting red
and choky in his earnestness.
The doctor stopped smiling, and held out his hand in a grave,
respectful way, as he said, 'I'll trust you, my boy. We'll cure Nanny
first; and you and I will settle the bill afterward.'
Jack liked that; it was a gentlemanly way of doing things, and he showed
his satisfaction by smiling all over his face, and giving the big, white
hand a hearty shake with both his rough ones.
The doctor was a busy man; but he kept them some time, for there were no
children in the fine house, and it seemed pleasant to have a little girl
sit on his knee and a bright boy stand beside his chair; and when, at
last, they went away, they looked as if he had given them some magic
medicine, which made them forget every trouble they had ever known.
Next day the kind man came to give Nanny her chance. She had no doubt,
and very little fear, but looked up at him so confidingly when all was
ready, that he stooped down and kissed her softly before he touched her
eyes.
'Let Jack hold my hands; then I'll be still, and not mind if it hurts
me,' she said. So Jack, pale with anxiety, knelt down before her, and
kept the little hands steadily in his all through the minutes that
seemed so long to him.
'What do you see, my child?' asked the doctor, when he had done
something to both eyes with a quick, skilful hand.
Nanny leaned forward, with the film all gone, and answered, with a
little cry of joy, that went to the hearts of those who heard it,
'Jack's face! I see it! oh, I see it!'
Only a freckled, round face, with wet eyes and tightly-set lips; but to
Nanny it was as beautiful as the face of an angel; and when she was laid
away with bandaged eyes to rest, it haunted all her dreams, for it was
the face of the little friend who loved her best.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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