It was a long and weary wait for help, though help of a most efficient
kind was on the way. Agatha had been looking and listening toward the
upper wood, whither Hand had disappeared. She had even called, from
time to time, on the chance that she could help to guide the assisting
party back to the cove. At last, as she listened for a reply to her
call, she heard another sound that set her wondering; it was the
p-p-peter-peter of a motor-boat. She looked out over the small expanse
of ocean that was visible to her, but could see nothing. Nevertheless
the boat was approaching, as its puffing proclaimed. It grew more and
more distinct, and presently a strong voice shouted "Ahoy! Are you
there?"
Three times the shout came. Agatha made a trumpet of her hands and
answered with a call on two notes, clear and strong. "All right!" came
back; and then, "Call again! We can't find you!" And so she called
again and again, though there were tears in her eyes and a lump in her
throat for very relief and joy. When her eyes cleared, she saw the
boat, and watched while it anchored well off the rocks; then two men
put ashore in a rowboat.
"And where are our patients?" came a deep, steady voice from the rocks.
"This way, sir. I think mademoiselle has moved the camp up under the
trees," was the reply, unmistakably the voice of Mr. Hand.
And there they found Agatha, kneeling by James and trying to coax him
to his feet. "Quick, they have come! You will be cared for now, you
will be well again!" she was saying. She saw Hand approach and heard
him say: "This way, Doctor Thayer. The gentleman is up here under the
trees," and then, for the first time in all the long ordeal, Agatha's
nerves broke and her throat filled with sobs. As the ex-chauffeur came
near, she reached a hand up to him, while with the other she covered
her weeping eyes in shame.
"Oh, I'm so glad you've come! I'm so glad you've come!" she tried to
say, but it was only a whisper through her sobs.
"I'm sorry I was gone so long," said Hand, touching her timidly on the
shoulder.
"Tell the doctor to take care of him," she begged in the faintest of
voices; and then she crept away, thinking to hide her nerves until she
should come to herself again. But Hand followed her to the niche in
the rocks where she fled, covered her with something big and warm, and
before she knew it he had made her drink a cup that was comforting and
good. Then he gave her food in little bits from a basket, and sweet
water out of a bottle. Agatha's soul revived within her, and her heart
became brave again, though she still felt as if she could never move
from her hard, damp resting-place among the rocks.
"You stay there, please, Mademoiselle," adjured Mr. Hand. "When we get
the boat ready, I'll come for you." Then, standing by her in his
submissive way, he added a thought of his own: "It's very hard,
Mademoiselle, to see you cry!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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