CHAPTER XIX
The News
"Four days since Dr. Plumstead and Nealie went away, and never a word tosay what has happened!" cried Sylvia as she came into Rupert's room tosee how he had slept.
"I expect they have eloped," remarked Don calmly, as he sat up on hismattress and yawned widely, stretching first one leg and then another,in order to get them properly awake, as he said; for, being at thebottom, his legs always woke up last, according to his ideas.
"What do you mean?" demanded Sylvia, with a frown. She was feelingtremendously grown-up in these days, and did not permit overmuch levityon the part of her juniors.
"Isn't that what people do when they want to get married?" askedBillykins, who was also just awake, and put his question while Don wasstruggling to find a definition of the word.
"But Nealie does not want to marry that usurping doctor who has takendear Father's place!" cried Sylvia hotly, the colour flaming over faceand neck at the bare idea of such a thing.
"I expect they will want to marry each other. Mrs. Brown said so,"returned Billykins; and then he and Don trotted off to wash in the horsetrough outside the stable door, where they had found they could getquite a decent bath without much trouble; and Sylvia bent her energiesto waking Rumple, who, being a genius, was always so unwilling to get upin the mornings.
"Perhaps we shall get some news to-day," said Rupert, who, because hewas feeling stronger, was very much more hopeful than he had been.
"I don't know what will happen to the doctor's patients if he doesn'tsoon come back," Sylvia went on in a dissatisfied tone. "You see, theyare all getting better without medicine; and it is so very bad for thepractice, for if once people get the idea in their heads that they cando without doctors it is so hard to get them back to thinking they mustcall one in every time their little fingers ache."
"A fresh crop of patients will turn up when the doctor comes home, Iexpect. Anyhow, I should not worry about it, for perhaps these peoplewould not have paid the bills, and so in reality it is money saved,"Rupert said drowsily; and then he stretched his limbs in a luxuriousfashion, and dropped into another doze, while Sylvia went back to theother room to start breakfast preparations. She and Ducky slept in thesitting-room now, while the four boys had the bedroom. They had takencomplete possession of the doctor's house, and felt so much at home init that it was a little difficult to imagine how he would find room forhimself when he came back.
Rumple, indeed, had suggested that the doctor might occupy the wagon;but as Rupert had pointed out that the wagon would have to be yielded upto the agent when Rockefeller came back from Mostyn, the only thing wasto get the stable ready for use in an emergency.
On this morning, when breakfast was over, the three younger boys andDucky went off to finish their task of turning the stable inside out.This, was the third day they had been at work on it, and the place waslooking quite clean and respectable, thanks to their very hard work.They had even ejected the carpet snake that lived there and killed themice which levied toll on the doctor's cornbin; but the snake, likeother ejected persons, was continually harking back to its old quarters,and so this morning, when Ducky rushed into the stable, the first thingwhich met her gaze was Slippy, the snake, curled up in a heap justinside the door, and of course there was promptly a fuss, for not allthe arguments of the others about the absolute harmlessness of Slippycould convince Ducky that the creature was anything but a most dangerousfoe.
She had rushed into the house and demanded the united efforts of Rupertand Sylvia to console her, and then was going back to the stable toinsist on Slippy being again ejected, when she saw a wagon drawn by afast pair of horses approaching at a rapid rate, and, having noticedwith her sharp little eyes that the man sitting by the driver had onlyone arm, the empty coat sleeve being pinned across his chest in truewarrior style, she rushed back into the house, crying shrilly: "Sylvia,Sylvia, the doctor has got a new patient coming! He has had his arm tornoff in a dreadful accident, and has come to have it put on again!"
"Oh, Rupert, whatever shall we do? The poor fellow may die before helpcomes to him, and all through our fault in sending Dr. Plumstead to takecare of Nealie!" cried Sylvia, turning white to the lips at the thoughtof the horrors which were about to be thrust upon her.
Rupert stood up and gripped her hand reassuringly.
"Don't worry, old girl; just cut off into the bedroom and hide thereuntil I am through with the business. I am not a doctor, but I know agood deal, and I think I can bandage the arm so that the man won't die.Anyhow, I will have a good try."
Sylvia made a bolt for the bedroom, and, casting herself on Rupert'sbed, rolled her head in a blanket, and, stuffing her fingers in herears, remained quaking and shivering until there was a determined clutchon the blanket, and Ducky squealed in her ears: "Sylvia, Sylvia, Mr.Wallis has come to take Rockefeller and the wagon home; only Rocky isn'there to be took, and he--that is, Mr. Wallis--has brought the man withhim what made Father so poor; and now we are going to be well off again,and Father won't be under a cloud any more. Isn't it splendiferous? Justscrumptious, I call it! Oh my, but your hair is a sight! You will haveto do it with Rupert's comb, and that has lost half its teeth!" andDucky whirled round in an ecstasy of excitement, while Sylvia hastilymade her long mane presentable, and then went out to speak to Mr.Wallis, quaking a little, truth to tell, from the wonder as to whetherhe would be angry to find that they had sent Rocky off upon another longjourney which was certainly not in the contract.
But one look at Rupert's face assured her that she had nothing to beafraid of on that score, for he was looking simply radiant as he stoodin earnest talk with a man who had only one arm.
"Why, I do believe that it is the very individual who upset poor Nealieso badly that day when we went to the botanical gardens in Sydney!" sheexclaimed; and then she went forward, to be warmly greeted by Mr.Wallis, who claimed to be an old friend, and who at once introduced herto Mr. Reginald Baxter, the gentleman who had only one arm.
Sylvia, knowing so little of her father's professional disgrace, which,indeed, should not have been disgrace at all, seeing that he had onlydone his duty, was not so much interested in this meeting as Rupert, andturned again to Mr. Wallis, anxious to get it made quite clear to thatgentleman that it was through no fault of theirs that Rocky had not beenhanded over to the agent long before this.
"It was so terrible for us all to arrive here, as we did, with Rupertill, and to take possession of what we thought was our father's house,only to find that it belonged to another man of the same name," shesaid, pouring out her words in a breathless hurry. "It seems a pity tome that doctors should be allowed to have the same name; only I supposeit can't be helped. Anyhow, it was very bad for all of us, but it wasespecially dreadful for poor Nealie, because, you see, she is grown up,and so the conventions had to be considered. Then he--the usurpingdoctor, that is--would go with her to take care of her when she went tofind Father; and that was awkward too, and a little unnecessary aswell, for Nealie is so well able to take care of herself. But they havenot come back, and we have not heard anything from them, and we areafraid that the practice will go all to pieces if the doctor does notsoon come back to nurse it a little."
"The practice will not suffer very much, I hope," said Mr. Wallissoothingly. "But I do not think you quite understand, Miss Sylvia, whatgood things are happening, or are going to happen, to your father. Mr.Baxter, who has come with me to-day, has had a long letter from yourfriend Mr. Melrose, who, you may remember, left the ship at Cape Town.It seems that when the rich relative of Mr. Baxter disinherited him,because, owing to his arm having been amputated, he was maimed, she lefther money to Mr. Melrose, who really needed it much more. But Mr.Melrose did not know that your father had had to suffer so badly in thematter, and when he gathered some idea of it through meeting you onboard ship, he at once wrote to Mr. Baxter calling for his co-operationin setting your father straight with the world again, and it is in orderto see how this can best be done that Mr. Ba
xter has travelled fromSydney with me."
"What a wonderful story! Why, it sounds like a fairy tale. But does notMr. Baxter hate my father for having been the means of making him poor?"asked Sylvia wistfully.
"No indeed! Mr. Baxter realizes that it was being thrust out upon theworld which really gave him his chance, and so he is in a way asgrateful to your father as Mr. Melrose; and between the two of them theywill clear the way to a greater prosperity, I hope," replied Mr. Walliskindly.
"Here comes Dr. Plumstead, but Nealie is not with him!" yelledBillykins, rushing up from a short journey to the next house, where hehad been to see if the woman who did for the doctor would undertake toprovide luncheon for the two gentlemen.
Dr. Plumstead was riding a horse that was certainly not Rockefeller, forit was a miserable wry-necked screw, with nothing but pace to recommendit, and a temper so vicious that it just stood and kicked, from sheerdelight at being disagreeable, when the doctor hastily dismounted andcame forward to explain his solitary return.
"Your father is a hero; but, like other brave men, he has to pay theprice of his heroism in suffering," said the doctor to Rupert, and thenhe told them all how the other Dr. Plumstead had risked his life to pullthe sick man from the burning shed, and that Nealie was staying to nursehim back to health again, she, in her turn, being taken care of byMother Twiney, who was really a good soul at the bottom, although alittle lacking in matters of personal cleanliness.
"Your sister was in great trouble about you all; but I said that Rupertand I could manage to take care of you for a few days or even weeksuntil she is able to come back and look after you," said the doctor,linking Rupert with himself in the matter of responsibility in a waythat made the boy flush with pleasure, although Sylvia wrinkled her nosewith a fine disdain.
"I am quite equal to taking care of myself, and of Ducky too," she saidloftily. "But of course it will be convenient to have someone to keepthe boys in order."