CHAPTER SEVEN.
LITTLE GERTIE COMES OUT IN A NEW LIGHT, AND BOB RECEIVES GOOD NEWS.
Poor little earnest curly-haired Gertie had been so thoroughly reared inthe midst of crashing sounds and dire alarms without any mischanceresulting, that she had come to feel at last as if the idea of danger ordisaster were a mere fiction. It was therefore a new and terrible shockwhich she received, when she saw her father carried to his cottage byfour railway porters and tenderly laid in his bed; and it went to herheart with an unaccountable thrill when she heard her father's usuallyloud hearty voice say, in soft, womanly tones, "Thank 'ee, lads; thank'ee. I'll be all right soon, please God. Good-night and thank 'eekindly."
"Good-night--good-night, Jack," they replied in various tones ofcheeriness; for these hard-muscled men had soft hearts, and althoughthey entertained fears for their friend, they were anxious, by thehearty tones of their voices, to keep up his spirits.
"You mustn't take on like that, Missis," whispered one of them as theywere leaving the cottage door; "the doctor said for sartin that therewarn't no bones broken, and 'e didn't think there was nothink internal."
"It ain't that I'm afear'd of," whimpered poor Mrs Marrot, "but it doesgo to my 'art so, to 'ear my John speak in that voice. I never 'ear'dhim do it except once before, when he was very low with fever, an'thought himself a-dyin'."
"But 'e ain't agoin' to die _this_ time," returned the kindly porter;"so cheer up, Missis. Good-night."
Mrs Marrot returned to the room where her husband lay, evidentlysuffering severe pain, for he was very pale and his lips werecompressed. He was anxious not to alarm Gertie and Loo who stood at thebedside. The former could not speak, and the blood had so completelyfled from her face and her small tightly-clasped hands that sheresembled a creature of wax.
"Can I do nothing to relieve the pain, dear father?" said Loo, as shewiped the perspiration from his brow.
"Nothin', nothin', dear lass," said John, with some of his wontedheartiness, "except git me a cup o' tea. Mayhap that'll do me good; butthe doctor'll be here soon, and he'll put me all to rights in no time."
The idea of a cup of tea was a deep device on the part of John, whomeant thereby to give Loo some active work to do and thus take herattention off himself.
"And don't you be uneasy, Molly," he added, turning to his wife, "itain't a bad hurt, I'm told, an' it ain't hard for a man to suffer a bito' pain now an' agin when it's the Lord's will. Come, that's thedoctor's knock. Don't keep him waitin'. I knew he'd be here soon,'cause Mr Able said he'd send him without delay."
A prolonged and somewhat painful examination of John's injuries ensued,during which time little Gertie, with clasped hands, parted lips, andeager eyes, watched the doctor's countenance intently. After it wasover, the doctor turned to Mrs Marrot, and said--
"I'm happy to tell you, that your husband's injuries, although severeand painful, are not serious. No bones are broken, but he has beenseverely bruised, and will require careful nursing for some time--and,"he added, turning with a smile to the patient, "no more rushing aboutthe country at sixty miles an hour for several weeks to come."
Little Gertie began to breathe freely again. Her hands unclasped, andthe colour came slowly back, as she crept quietly to the bedside, and,taking her father's large horny hand, laid her cheek softly upon it.
"Are you easier _now_, daddy?" she asked.
"Ay, much easier, God bless you, Gertie. The doctor has made thingsmuch more comfortable. They've got a wonderful knack o' puttin' thingsright--these doctors have. W'y, it minds me o' my ingine after alongish run; she looks dirty an' all out o' sorts; but w'en I gits herinto the shed, and gives her an overhaul, you'd scarce know 'er again."
At this moment baby Marrot who had been sleeping when his father wasbrought in, became suddenly conscious of internal vacuity, and forthwithset up a lusty howl, whereupon Mrs Marrot pounced upon and throttledhim--to some extent.
"Don't stop him, Molly, my dear; you--"
The remainder of the sentence was drowned by the night express whichrushed past, joining baby Marrot in a yell, as the latter freed histhroat from his mother's grip.
"Don't stop him, Molly," repeated John; "you don't suppose that afterdrivin' a locomotive for eight years I'm agoin' to be disturbed by thesmall pipe of our own youngster. Let him yell, Molly; it does him good,and it don't do me no harm."
It was now arranged that Gertie was to be head nurse on this tryingoccasion--not that the appointment was considered appropriate, but itwas unavoidable, seeing that Gertie wanted it intensely, and her fatherwas pleased to have it so.
Gertie had never before been called upon to do anything in the nursingway more serious than to look after baby when he had eaten too much orscalded himself--nevertheless, the way in which she went about hernursing would have done credit to an hospital training. She evidentlypossessed a natural aptitude for the work, and went about it with asense of the importance of the trust that was quite charming. She wasat that tender age when such work becomes barely possible, and theperformance of it seems quite miraculous! Her father gazed at her inbewilderment while she went about gravely smoothing his pillow andtucking in corners of blankets, and bringing cups, and tumblers, andspoons, and handkerchiefs, and sundry other articles, to a chair at hisbedside, so as to be within reach of his hand. Molly and Loo, besidesbeing highly interested, were intensely amused. It is a matter ofdispute even to this day whether baby did not perceive the marvellousaptitude of Gertie, for he continued for a prolonged period to gaze ather as if in solemn wonder. Mrs Marrot declared baby's gaze to be oneof admiration, but John held that it was owing to the state ofexhaustion that resulted from an unusually long fit of yelling. Whilehe stared thus, Gertie, having completed a number of little operationsand put the finishing touches or _pats_ to them, became suddenly awarethat every one was laughing quietly.
"What is it?" she asked, relaxing the severity of her brow andbrightening up.
They all laughed still more at this, and Gertie, looking round for anexplanation, encountered baby's glaring eyes, whereupon, supposing thatshe had found out the cause, she laughed too. But she quickly dismissedher levity and recurred to her work with renewed diligence.
It was well for the engine-driver that he had been trained in a roughschool, for his powers of endurance were severely tested that night, bythe attentions of his numerous friends who called to inquire for him,and in some cases insisted on seeing him.
Among others came one of the directors of the company, who, seeing howmatters stood, with much consideration said that he would not sit down,but had merely looked in for a moment, to tell John Marrot that anappointment had been found for his son Robert in the "Works," and thatif he would send him over in the morning he would be introduced to thelocomotive superintendent and initiated into the details of his newsphere of action.
This was very gratifying to the engine-driver of course, but much moreso to Bob himself, whose highest earthly ambition was to become, as hestyled it, an engineer. When that aspiring youth came home that nightafter cleaning his lamps, he wiped his oily hands on a bundle of waste,and sat down beside his sire to inquire considerately into his state ofbody, and to give him, as he expressed it, the noos of the line.
"You see, daddy," he said, "the doctor tells me you're to be kep' quiet,an' not allowed to talk, so in course you've got nothin' to do but liestill an' listen while I give 'ee the noos. So 'ere goes. An' don'tyou sit too near baby, mother, else you'll wake 'im up, an' we'll have ayell as'll put talkin' out o' the question. Well then--"
"Bob," said Loo, interrupting her brother as she sat down opposite, andbegan to mend one of baby's pinafores--which by the way was already somended and patched as to have lost much of its original form andappearance--"Bob, Mr Able has been here, and--"
"Who's Mr Able?" demanded Bob.
"One of the directors,--don't you know?"
"How should I know?" retorted Bob; "you don't suppose that the d'rectorsis
all my partikler friends, do you? There's only two or three of 'emas has the honer of my acquaintance."
"Well," resumed Loo with a laugh, "you ought to consider Mr Able one ofyour particular friends at all events, for he has been here this eveningmaking kind inquiries after father, and telling him that he has got youappointed to the works that you've been so long hankering--"
"What!" interrupted Bob in great excitement; "you don't mean that, Loo?"
"Yes, I do."
"To the great Clatterby Works, where the big hammer is?"
"Well, I suppose it is to these works," said Loo.
"Ay, Bob, to the Clatterby Works, lad; so you're a made man if you onlybehave yourself and do your dooty," said John Marrot in reply to hisson's look of inquiry.
In the strength of his satisfaction the boy rose, and, taking Loo roundthe neck, kissed her pretty mouth heartily, after which he bestowed thesame favour on his mother and little Gertie, and looked as if he meantto do it to baby too, but he thought better of it.
"Why, mother," he said, resuming his seat at the bedside, "these are theworks where they've got the big hammers--so big, mother; oh! you've nonotion how big they are, and heavy. Why, one of 'em is full five tonsin weight--think o' that! equal to five carts of coals, mother, allrolled into one."
"Nonsense!" said Mrs Marrot.
"But it's _true_," said Bob, earnestly.
"Nonsense!" repeated Mrs Marrot; "w'y, what would be the use of ahammer as no one could lift?"
"Steam lifts it, mother," said Bob, "as easy--yes, as easy as you liftthe rollin' pin."
The unbelieving woman still shook her head, smiled, and said,"Nonsense!"
"Moreover," continued Bob, waxing enthusiastic on his favourite topic,"I'm told, for I haven't seen 'em yet, that they've got a pair o'scissors there as can cut cold iron as easy as you can cut paper--theycould cut through," said Bob, pausing and looking round, "they could cutthrough the poker and tongs and shovel, all at one go, as easy as ifthey was straws."
"Gammon!" said Mrs Marrot.
"Isn't it a fact, daddy?" cried Bob.
"Quite true, Molly, my dear. I must take you over to see the works someday and convince you," said John with a faint smile. "But what's thenews you were goin' to give us, Bob?" he added.
"The noos?--ah; that _good_ noos drove it all out o' my 'ead. Well, asI wos agoin' to say, there's a great to-do down at the shed, 'cause it'ssaid that an awful lot o' thefts has bin goin' on of late at Binglystation, and it's bin reported that some of the drivers or firemen areconsarned in it. An' d'ee know, father," continued Bob, suddenlybecoming grave and very earnest, "I heard one o' the men say that WillGarvie is suspected."
There was a momentary deep silence, as if every one had received ashock; then Mrs Marrot exclaimed "What say 'ee, boy?"
At the same time her husband demanded sternly, "Who said that?"
"I don't know, father. I was passing through the shed at the time anddidn't see who spoke, I only heerd 'im."
"Father," said Leo, over whose face a deep crimson flush had spread,"_surely_ you don't for a moment believe it?"
"Believe it," replied John, "believe that my mate, Will Garvie, is athief? I'd as soon believe that my Molly was a murderer!"
The energetic driver here struck his fist so violently on the bed as tocause his wounded side an acute twinge of pain. It had scarcely passedaway when the door opened and Will Garvie himself entered.
"Well, Jack," he said, going up to his friend's couch and taking hishand, "how d'you feel now--better?"
The frank open countenance of the young man--albeit begrimed with smoke,and his clear laughing blue eyes, were such a flat contradiction to thecharge which had been made against him that John looked up in his faceand laughed.
"Well, you _must_ be better, if that's the way you answer me!"
"Oh, I'm all right," said John, quietly; "leastwise I'm on the railsagin, an' only shunted on to a sidin' to be overhauled and repaired abit. You've heard the noos, I fancy?"
"What of Bob's appointment?" said Will, glancing at Loo; for he knewthat anything that was for Bob's advantage gave her intense delight, andhe liked to watch her countenance in such circumstances--"of course I'veheard of that. Moreover, I've bin to the locomotive superintendent andgot leave to go over with him to-morrow and show him through the works,along with any of his family that might want to go. I made a specialrequest for this, thinkin' that mayhap--"
He looked pointedly at Loo, and Loo looked pointedly at the pinaforewhich suddenly claimed her undivided attention. Bob, before Will couldfinish his sentence, broke in with--
"Now, _ain't_ that a su'cumstance? w'y, we was just talkin' of havin'mother over to see the works, an' lettin' her be convinced by her owneyes that there is a hammer there of five ton weight, drove by steam,an' a pair o' scissors as can cut cold iron an inch thick. You'll gomother, won't you?"
"Well, I dessay it would be amoosin'; yes, I'll go, Bob, if father'sbetter."
Accordingly, much to Will Garvie's disappointment it was arranged thatMrs Marrot was to accompany him and Bob to the great railway "Works" onthe following day.