Part 32 (1/2)
”It's him, doc! My G.o.d, it's Jimmy!” It was all the old man could say. He shook like a leaf, and sitting suddenly down upon a splint-bottom chair, he buried his face in his hands.
”Are you sure?” the doctor asked, not knowing what else to say.
”Sure,” was the low reply. ”Strange I didn't know him at first. But it's him all right. And, say, doc, ye'll bring him around, won't ye?”
and the captain raised his eyes appealingly to his companion's face.
”I shall do all I can, captain, never fear.”
”May the Lord bless ye, doc, fer them words. Isn't it lucky that ye're here to-night? Jist think what the scouts have done. But fer them my Jimmy would be lyin' out there in the storm. And, say, d'ye believe in G.o.d?”
”Y-yes, I suppose so,” was the somewhat doubtful response.
”But ye'll be sure now, dead certain, won't ye, doc?”
”Why? I don't catch the drift of your meaning.”
”Ye don't? Why, that's queer, after what He's done fer my Jimmy. Who else sent them scouts out there to bring my boy in but Him? And to think that all of these years I've been scoffin' at Him and religion, and then fer Him to do so much fer me and my Jimmy!”
The doctor knew not how to reply, and so continued his smoke, while the captain sat nearby with bent head, deep in thought. The storm still raged without, but there was silence in the kitchen, save for the kettle which sang upon the stove. But a more intense silence reigned within the little bed-room adjoining, where a mother knelt by the side of her only child, holding his cold right hand in hers, and offering up wordless prayers that he might be spared.
News of Jimmy Britt's return soon spread throughout the parish, and everywhere there was the buzz of gossip as to the strange way he had come home. Some thought he must have been drunk, which caused him to fall upon the road. Others believed that he was so poor that he could not afford to be driven from the train. But all were of one mind that his not writing to his parents for years was most mysterious.
While all this talking was going on, Jimmy was being slowly restored to life through the doctor's skill, and the mother's careful nursing.
Mrs. Britt now found the work of looking after two patients almost beyond her power of endurance. It was then that Miss Arabella offered her a.s.sistance, and proved a veritable angel of mercy in her attention to Whyn, and doing what she could about the house.
During the weeks which followed the night of the great storm the scouts did not meet at Headquarters. They knew that the captain had little or no heart for anything now but the care of his son. They accordingly met from house to house, but most often at the rectory, where Mrs.
Royal always made them welcome. They were all greatly interested in the captain's son, of whom they had heard so much, and they longed to see him. Nearly every day Rod went to the Anchorage to see Whyn, and they talked very much about Jimmy. The latter, however, he never saw, as no visitor was allowed in his room.
To the scouts the winter seemed very long, and delighted were they when spring at last set in. The days lengthened rapidly, the snow disappeared, and the ice was fast weakening in the river. It was a fine afternoon when Rod was making his regular visit to Whyn that he saw Jimmy. He was sitting in a sunny spot right in front of the house.
His thick beard had been removed, and his face was very pale after his illness. Rod recognised him in an instant, and it was with difficulty that he kept back a cry of astonishment. With fast-beating heart he rushed into Whyn's room, much to the girl's surprise, for he was in the habit of entering quietly.
”Why, Rod, what's the matter?” she inquired.
”You look half frightened to death.”
”It's him, Whyn!” he exclaimed. ”I'm sure of it.”
”Who is it? What do you mean?” the girl asked. ”Sit down, and be sensible.”
”He's the very man who was knocked down and robbed in the city, Whyn.”
”What man?”
”Jimmy. He's out there. His whiskers are all off, and I knew him the instant I got my eyes on him.”
”Does the captain know that?” Whyn questioned, after a moment's thought. ”Isn't it strange that Jimmy should have been helped twice by our troop? How delighted Captain Josh will be.”
”You tell him, Whyn,” Rod suggested. ”He ought to know, but if I say anything it will seem like boasting. It was only our good turn, and we are not supposed to say anything about what we do.”