Christian life -- Fiction; Missing persons -- Fiction
Many an anxious hour was still to come as Julius slowly struggled back
to health and strength, but as the doctor said, it was to that sleep the
child owed his life. There were no more objections made by Mr. Field to
the intercourse between Farncourt and the dwellers in Sea View Cottage.
Every morning did Robin and his mother walk up to enquire for the
invalid, and as often as not, one or both of them stayed with him for
the rest of the day. Mr. Field indeed was not often present when Mrs.
Power sat with his son, but he would constantly join the two boys as
they played together, watching them as they made endless scrapbooks out
of old illustrated papers, or constructed wonderful models with bits of
wood and an unlimited supply of glue.
The great London physician came no longer to look wisely over his
gold-rimmed spectacles at the now convalescent lad, but the village
doctor still made friendly visits, to the benefit of his patient as well
as of his own pocket.
"We’ll soon have you flying about as lively as ever," he said cheerily
to Julius during one of these calls. "You’ve got on quicker than the
other patient I was summoned to attend the same day that you got bowled
over."
"Who was that?" asked Mrs. Power, who was standing near. "I had not
heard that any of the villagers were ill just now."
"I know how good you are in going to see the sick ones," responded the
doctor, "and I longed to ask you to minister to this poor fellow, but
he’s a queer self-contained mortal, and apparently prefers to be left to
himself. He is a stranger here--arrived the night of the storm--and
appeared, sopping wet and utterly tired out at Mrs. Potter’s door, with
no luggage but a knapsack, being apparently upon some sort of walking
tour. She let him in out of pity, and he’s been laid up at her house
ever since. It’s the Mrs. Potter who lives on the high road just beyond
the wood. She’s a good soul, and has done all she could for him, but
it’s been a close shave, his getting through at all."
The boys exchanged glances.
"I expect it’s the tramp," whispered Julius. "I’m glad he’s got a real
bed to sleep in, and that he didn’t have to stay in the hut while he was
ill."
"Our nice house is all broken down now," replied Robin. "The rain of
that night beat it to pieces. The roof fell in, and the wall gave way,
and the moss floor got into a nasty sloppy mess. I looked for my text,
but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I think it must have been completely
washed away."
"I shouldn’t be afraid of that text now," remarked Julius. "I have told
father all about my going to make Peter’s hutch, and our house in the
wood, and our games and everything. He wasn’t a bit angry, only sorry I
had deceived him so often. I’m not going to do sneaky things again, but
I’m jolly glad he doesn’t mind me playing with you now, Robin."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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