England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Short stories, English
It went on to the afternoon. Sanker ate no dinner, for I looked to see;
he was but one amidst the many, and it was not noticed by the masters.
And if it had been, they'd have thought that the ducking had taken away
his appetite. The drawing-master, Wilson, followed suit with Hall, and
said he was not surprised at their being nearly drowned, after making
hay on the Sunday. But, about four o'clock, when the first-class were
before Dr. Frost with their Greek books, Sanker suddenly let his fall.
Instead of stooping for it, his eyes took a far-off look, as if they
were seeking for it round the walls of the room.
"Lay hold of him," said Dr. Frost.
He did not faint, but seemed dull: it looked as much like a lazy fit
as anything; and he was sensible. They put him to sit on one of the
benches, and then he began to tremble.
"He must be got to bed," said the Doctor. "Mr. Blair, kindly see Mrs.
Hall, will you. Tell her to warm it. Stay. Wait a moment."
Dr. Frost followed Mr. Blair from the hall. It was to say that Sanker
had better go at once to the blue-room. If the bed there was not aired,
or otherwise ready, Sanker's own bedding could be taken to it. "I'll
give Mrs. Hall the orders myself," said the Doctor.
The blue-room--called so from its blue-stained walls--was the one used
on emergencies. When we found Sanker had been taken there, we made up
our minds that he was going to have an illness. Featherston came and
thought the same.
The next day, Wednesday, he was in a sort of fever, rambling every other
minute. The Squire said he should like to see him, and Blair took him
upstairs. Sanker lay with the same pink hue on his cheeks, only deeper;
and his eyes were bright and glistening. Hall, who was addicted to
putting in her word on all occasions when it could tell against us boys,
said if he had stayed two or three days in bed at Vale Farm, where he
was first put, he'd have had nothing of this. Perhaps Hall was right. It
had been Sanker's own doings to get up. When Mrs. Vale saw him coming
downstairs, she wanted to send him back to bed again, but he told her he
was quite well, and came off to school.
Sanker knew the Squire, and put out his hand. The Squire took it without
saying a word. He told us later that to him Sanker's face looked as if
it had death in it. When he would have spoken, Sanker's eyes had grown
wild again, and he was talking nonsense about his class-books.
"Johnny, boy, you sit in this room a bit at times; you are patient and
not rough," said the Squire, when he went out to his carriage, for he
had driven over. "I have asked them to let you be up there as much as
they can. The poor boy is very ill, and has no relatives near him."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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