The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-01-23
Aunt Diana
The Sunshine
of the Family
CHAPTER xv-(Contfnued. J
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CHAPTER XV.-(Continued.)
"Oh, Mabel, my poor dear!' And Ali
son knelt down by her. She had not
noticed how helplessly the left arm hung
down, and how Missile would not let her
touch it.
''It is all bruised and cut" she said,
her forehead contracting heavily with
pain. "The doctor must see it presently,
when he has finished in the other room !;
not now. Oh, Alison, where are you
going? You shall not disturb them. What
does it matter? If only" But here
her fast whitening lips refused to utter
her fear.
Let me go, darling" returned Alison,
anxiously; II will not disturb them, you
may quite trust me- And without wait
ing for MabePs answer she slipped away.
As she entered the dressing room, the
stranger, a dark, grave-looking young
man, came out of her fathers room. He
listened to Alison's account, and promised
to attend to her sister as soon as posi-
BILE.
eve must finish the examination" he
said, dismissing her, "but l will come
as soon as l can. l thought there was
something wrong, but she deceived US by
hiding her arm under her mantle. She
was bruised, that was all, she told us.
Keep her quiet, and will be with you
directly
Missile was leaning back in her chair,
with her eyes closed, but as Alison en-
tered she opened them full on her sister,
and the blank miserable look in them con-
WINGED Alison that she was dreading the
worst.
''Do not look so, Mabel darling she
said, kissing her softly. Indeed we do
not know; they have told me nothing.
Dear papa is in Gods hands; we must
leave him there, and hope for the best. "
A low groan broke from Mabels lips.
"Oh, it is easy for you Z; even il the
worst comes, you can bear it; you have
nothing with which to reproach yourself.
If he dies, shall have killed him. How
am 1 to 60 on living, and know that?'
And here she burst out into hoarse sobs.
Mabel, my poor dear, oh how am l to
comfort you?" exclaimed Alison, unable
to restrain her own tears at the sight of
her sisters anguish.
"You can not comfort me-" returned
the unhappy girl. what is the pain of
my broken arm and my bruises compared
to what 1 shall feel if he dies, and 1
am not able even to tell him that l am
sorry for my deceit and disobedience? and
/ would not say so, because he was angry.
Oh, papa, papa, and | loved you SO ~
And the poor child hid her face on Ali
sons shoulder. 1t seemed relief to her
fn ont or
so angry, and she would not own herself
in the wrong, and then the horrible acct
dent had happened, and she thought at
first her father was killed. when they
said he was alive, and they must bring
him home, and see what could be done,
thought I would not add to the trouble,
and so 1 managed to hide my broken
arm" But here she broke off, as Mr..
Cameron entered the room. q
"Papa?" she said, family, as he came
up to her.
His consciousness is returning; we
shall know more tomorrow. 1t is not
the head, as we feared" he said, evas-
lively; "but now l must look at your
arm, please. Your friend Dr. Greenwood
will be here directly, and we will soon
full words, Poor child" came pityingly
from his lips as the blackened shoulder
was revealed to his view. Missile must
have suffered exquisite pain during the
drive home. The arm was broken, and
the shoulder dislocated, and the bruised
condition of the flesh filled Alison with
horror.
1t was painful ordeal for Alison,
but she bore it as bravely as she could.
Roger had remained with his father
Miss Leigh was not in condition to
render any assistance; the sudden con-
fusion had brought on accession of pain.
and she could only lay her throbbing
head on the pillow. and lie there in ut
ter helplessness. There was no one but
herself to wait upon the doctors and re-
lceive their directions, the very exigency
of the case made her helpful. Her one
thought was that she must not hinder
their work; there was little for her to do.
At the first touch of her wounded arm
Mabel had tainted again. Alison could
not have borne to witness the poor child's
sufferings. Perhaps DIR. Greenwood knew
this, for he contrived some errand that
detained her for few minutes out of the
room. When she returned the worst
seemed over, but the faintness continued,
and it was only slowly and by degrees
that Alison, with Sarah's help, could as
sist her to undress and lie down, after
which sedative was to be administered
as the pain of the bruises and the misery
of her mind would effectually hinder
sleep.
As soon as she could leave her In
Ssrah's charge, Alison stole into her faith
er's dressing room. DR.. Greenwood came
to her at once.
"My DEAR" he said, taking her hand
for he had known her from an infant
'this is sad business, but, thank God
things are not SO bad as they seemed at
first. Your father must have received q
blow; he was stunned, but consciousness
has returned, and he has spoken. What we
fear now is something different. He seems
unable to move; but this may be due
to the shock and temporary exhaustion
There are symptoms that make us hone
full that the full extent of mischief NAV
not be realized. We shall know more in