"No, no," I whispered dreamily; and then all the trees and the hedge seemed to mingle in a senseless dance, and everything bobbed up and down before me. But I did not entirely lose consciousness, for I heard the children whisper together. At last Bess took Hals' hand and came quite close to where I was lying. "They do not always die," Hals said soothingly. "No, not mothers," Bess answered, with a gulp. But my poor little maid looked white with fear--she was trembling, and added, "But mothers _can_ die." I tried to say something to reassure them, but all my words seemed to die on my lips, and as I lay there everything seemed to get further and further off, and to become indistinct and unreal. At last Hals seemed to remember what to do in the emergency. "Run, Bess, run, and get some one," I heard him say. [Sidenote: MOUSE'S ROUGH KIND TONGUE] As the two children started off to the house, Mouse gave a whimper, and I felt her rough, kind tongue against my face. Then a mist gathered round me and I remembered nothing more. In a little while, however, I heard voices. Kindly Auguste led the way, talking volubly. "Madame est morte," I heard him call out in theatrical tones. Then old Mrs. Langdale followed, wringing her hands; then Célestine, like a whirlwind; and Nana and Burbidge a second later hobbled up across the lawn. "Madame, vite," exclaimed Célestine, and then followed a string of proposed remedies in the most astonishingly quick French. As she spoke, she tried to raise me, but I could not move without acute pain; and Mouse, watching my face, growled angrily. At this, Burbidge forced himself to the front. "Have done with your gibberish," he cried, in a surly tone. "For an English blow an English remedy. Yer might have broken my steps, marm," he said to me, with a catch in his throat. Burbidge is full of kindness; "but at times his tongue is as rough as pig bristles," as his old wife, Hester says, and just then he was thoroughly angry with me for having hurt myself chasing "mere wild birds, like a village loseller." Then he called to his boys, and somehow, with their aid, I got back to the house. The children were both in tears. "She has broken her leg," cried Bess. "Mothers can, I know it, besides beggars and princes." But Hals would not allow this, and said, with dogged steadfastness, "Mothers don't break like dolls, I know that." For this remark Burbidge commended him. "Stick to it, young squire," he said; and then he bade Roderick run for the doctor, like greased lightning. After a minute or two, Nana begged all to go out, and took possession of the injured knee, and began to bathe it with a decoction of arnica and boiled lily-root, which last is an excellent remedy, still used in Shropshire, for cuts or bruises. Gradually the pain diminished, and as I lay, feeling much shaken and a little foolish, the doctor made his appearance.