The Shield of SilenceComstock, Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa)
General
The Shield of Silence
Comstock, Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa)
Children and adults -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction
Joan staggered in and, seeing a door open at the end of the hall,
reached it, entered, and sank down in a chair with the astonished eyes
of Clive Cameron upon her!
He was ready for his rounds--was on the way, then, to his hospital; it
was Martin's pet institution and Cameron's first care in the morning.
"I'm--tired," Joan informed him. "Please take care of--Cuff!"
And then everything went black and quiet.
Never in all his life had Cameron had anything so surprising happen to
him. He looked at the girl, whom he managed to carry to the couch; he
turned to the dog whose faithful eyes rather steadied him, then he
applied all the remedies that one does at such times. Eventually Joan
revived, but she stared vacantly at the face above her and did not
attempt to speak.
Presently Cameron called in his nurse.
"I think it is brain fever," he explained to the cool, capable woman who
asked naturally:
"Who is she?"
"The Lord knows."
"Where did she come from? Where does she belong?"
"The Lord knows. She just came in with the dog and then dropped after
asking me to care for--for Cuff--yes, that's what she called him--then
she went off."
"It's a duck of a dog," the nurse remarked as one does make inane
remarks at a critical time. Then:
"Have you looked in her bag?"
"Certainly not!"
"We had better." And they did.
There was a trunk key, seventy-five dollars, and a letter signed "Syl,"
and frivolously dilating upon a man named John and loads of love to Miss
Lamb!
"Well!" said the nurse, "and as one might expect, no heading, date, or
any sensible clue--and the envelope missing. We must label this patient,
I suppose, as Miss Lamb. The articles of clothing are unmarked. Queer
all around!"
"We must get her into the hospital at once," Cameron replied. The doctor
in him was getting into action.
"Can we manage her in my car?"
"Yes, Doctor."
"Then get busy. Call her Miss Lamb when you have to answer questions. We
can find out about her later. Where's that dog?"
Cuff was making himself invisible. He was under the couch.
"Have him fed and taken care of, Miss Brown--tell the maid."
Joan leaned against Cameron on the way to the hospital while Miss Brown
kept a finger on her pulse. The girl's body acted mechanically, but the
brain was clogged.
Day by day in the white, quiet hospital room the battle for her life
went on; day by day outside effort was made to trace her and find her
friends.
"You wise-looking brute," Cameron often thought as he regarded Cuff at
the day's end; "why can't you tell what you know?"
But Cuff simply wagged his stump and slunk off. Life was becoming too
puzzling for him.
Cameron studied advertisements and certain columns in the papers, but no
one seemed to have missed the pretty young creature in the Martin
Sanatorium.
"It's the very devil of a case!" Cameron declared, and set about
erecting some sort of foundation upon which "Miss Lamb" might repose
without causing too much unhealthy curiosity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account