Country life -- England -- Fiction; England -- Fiction; Family life -- Fiction; Railroads -- Fiction; Siblings -- Fiction
They did think. And presently they talked. And later, when Bobbie had
gone up to sit with Mother in case she wanted anything, the other two
were very busy with scissors and a white sheet, and a paint brush, and
the pot of Brunswick black that Mrs. Viney used for grates and fenders.
They did not manage to do what they wished, exactly, with the first
sheet, so they took another out of the linen cupboard. It did not occur
to them that they were spoiling good sheets which cost good money. They
only knew that they were making a good--but what they were making comes
later.
Bobbie's bed had been moved into Mother's room, and several times in
the night she got up to mend the fire, and to give her mother milk and
soda-water. Mother talked to herself a good deal, but it did not seem
to mean anything. And once she woke up suddenly and called out: “Mamma,
mamma!” and Bobbie knew she was calling for Granny, and that she had
forgotten that it was no use calling, because Granny was dead.
In the early morning Bobbie heard her name and jumped out of bed and ran
to Mother's bedside.
“Oh--ah, yes--I think I was asleep,” said Mother. “My poor little duck,
how tired you'll be--I do hate to give you all this trouble.”
“Trouble!” said Bobbie.
“Ah, don't cry, sweet,” Mother said; “I shall be all right in a day or
two.”
And Bobbie said, “Yes,” and tried to smile.
When you are used to ten hours of solid sleep, to get up three or four
times in your sleep-time makes you feel as though you had been up all
night. Bobbie felt quite stupid and her eyes were sore and stiff, but
she tidied the room, and arranged everything neatly before the Doctor
came.
This was at half-past eight.
“Everything going on all right, little Nurse?” he said at the front
door. “Did you get the brandy?”
“I've got the brandy,” said Bobbie, “in a little flat bottle.”
“I didn't see the grapes or the beef tea, though,” said he.
“No,” said Bobbie, firmly, “but you will to-morrow. And there's some
beef stewing in the oven for beef tea.”
“Who told you to do that?” he asked.
“I noticed what Mother did when Phil had mumps.”
“Right,” said the Doctor. “Now you get your old woman to sit with your
mother, and then you eat a good breakfast, and go straight to bed and
sleep till dinner-time. We can't afford to have the head-nurse ill.”
He was really quite a nice doctor.
When the 9.15 came out of the tunnel that morning the old gentleman in
the first-class carriage put down his newspaper, and got ready to wave
his hand to the three children on the fence. But this morning there were
not three. There was only one. And that was Peter.
Peter was not on the railings either, as usual. He was standing in front
of them in an attitude like that of a show-man showing off the animals
in a menagerie, or of the kind clergyman when he points with a wand at
the 'Scenes from Palestine,' when there is a magic-lantern and he is
explaining it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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