Elsie in the South Part 26

Directing his servant to keep close in his rear he rode rapidly in the direction of the place named by the messenger. He found the child very ill and not fit to be left by him until early morning.

It was in the darkest hour, just before day, that he started for home again. All went well till he was within a few rods of home, but then his horse--a rather wild young animal--took fright at the hoot of an owl in a tree close at hand, reared suddenly and threw him violently to the ground, then rushed away in the direction of his stable.

"Oh, doctah, sah, is you bad hurted?" queried the servant man, hastily alighting and coming to his master's side.

"Pretty badly, I'm afraid, Pete," groaned the doctor. "Help me to the house, and then you must ride over to Viamede as fast as you can, wake up Dr. Harold Travilla and ask him to come to me immediately to set some broken bones. Take one of the other horses with you for him to ride. Ah," as he attempted to rise, "I'm hardly able to walk, Pete; you will have to pretty nearly carry me to the house."

"I kin do dat, doctah; Ise a strong-built n.i.g.g.e.r; jes lemme tote you 'long like de mammies do de leetle darkies."

And with that Pete lifted Dr. Percival in his arms carried him to the house and on up to his own sleeping room, where he laid him gently down upon his bed in an almost fainting condition.

Maud was greatly alarmed, and bade Pete hasten with all speed for one or another of the doctor cousins.

"Harold, Harold!" groaned the sufferer, "he is older than Herbert and nearer than Art, who is at the Parsonage. And he can bring Herbert with him should he see fit."

Pete, alarmed at the condition of his master, to whom he had become strongly attached, made all the haste he could to bring the needed help; but the sun was already above the tree tops when he reached Viamede.

The first person he saw there was Captain Raymond, who had just stepped out upon the veranda.

"Morning, sah! is you uns one ob de doctahs?" he queried in anxious tones, as he reined in his horse at the foot of the veranda steps.

"No," replied the captain; "but there are doctors in the house. You are from Torriswood, I think. Is any one ill there?"

"Ma.s.sa doctah, he's 'most killed! Horse frowed him. Please, sah, where de doctahs? I'se in pow'ful big hurry to git dem dere fore----"

"Here," called the voice of Harold from an upper window; "is it I that am wanted? I'll be down there in five minutes or less."

"Yes, I think it is you, and probably Herbert also, who are wanted in all haste at Torriswood," answered Captain Raymond, his voice betraying both anxiety and alarm. "It seems d.i.c.k has met with a serious accident and has sent for one or both of you."

"Yes," replied Herbert, speaking as Harold had from the window, "we will both go to him as speedily as possible and do what we can for his relief. Please, captain, order another horse saddled and brought round immediately."

The captain at once complied with the request, and in a very few minutes both doctors were riding briskly toward Torriswood. They found their patient in much pain from a dislocated shoulder and some broken bones; all of which they proceeded to set as promptly as possible. But there were symptoms of some internal injury which occasioned more alarm than the displacement and fracture of the bones. They held a consultation outside of the sick room.

"I think we should have Cousin Arthur here," said Harold. "'In mult.i.tude of counsellors is safety,' Solomon tells us, and Art excels us both in wisdom and experience."

"Certainly," responded Herbert; "let us summon him at once. I am glad indeed that he is still within reach."

"As I am. I will speak to Maud and have him sent for immediately."

A messenger was promptly despatched to the Parsonage and returned shortly, bringing Dr. Conly with him. Another examination and consultation followed and Dr. Percival, who had become slightly delirious, was p.r.o.nounced in a critical condition; yet the physicians, though anxious, by no means despaired of his ultimate recovery.

The news of the accident had by this time reached all of the connection in that neighborhood, and silent pet.i.tions on his behalf were going up from many hearts. On behalf of his young wife also, for poor Maud seemed well-nigh distracted with grief and the fear of the bereavement that threatened her.

Mrs. Embury, too, was greatly distressed, for d.i.c.k and she had been all their lives a devotedly attached brother and sister. No day now pa.s.sed in which she did not visit Torriswood that she might catch a sight of his dear face and learn as far as possible his exact state; though neither her nursing nor that of other loving relatives was needed--the doctors and an old negress, skilled in that line of work, doing all that could be done for his relief and comfort.

Mrs. Betty Norton, his half-sister, was scarcely less pained and anxious; as indeed were Maud's brothers and all the relatives in that region.

It was from her father Lucilla first heard of the accident--when she joined him on the veranda at Viamede directly after the departure of the doctors and Pete for Torriswood.

"Oh, father," she exclaimed, "I do hope he is not seriously injured!

Poor Maud! She must be sorely distressed, for he has proved such a good, kind husband, and she almost idolizes him."

"Yes, I feel deeply for her as well as for him. We will pray for them both, asking that if it be consistent with the will of G.o.d, he may be speedily restored to perfect health and strength."

"Yes, papa; what a comfort it is that we may cast upon the Lord all our care for ourselves and others!"

"It is indeed! I have found it so in many a sore trial sent to myself or to some one dear to me. I am glad for Maud that she has her brothers with her now."

"I too, papa, and I suppose Chester will stay with her to-day."

"Most likely; and my daughter must not feel hurt should he not show himself here at his usual early hour, or even at all to-day."

"I'll try not, papa. I am sure it would be very selfish in me to grudge poor dear Maud any show of sympathy or any comfort she might receive from him--her own dear eldest brother."

"Yes, so I think," said her father, "and I should not expect it of any one of my daughters."

Chester came at length, some hours later than his wont, and looking grave and troubled. In answer to inquiries, "Yes, poor d.i.c.k is certainly badly hurt," he said, "and Maud well-nigh distracted with grief and anxiety. She is a most devoted wife and considers him her all."

"But the case is not thought to be hopeless?" Mr. Dinsmore said inquiringly.

"No, not exactly that, but the doctors are not yet able to decide just what the internal injury may be."

"And while there is life there is hope," said Grandma Elsie in determinately cheerful tones. "It is certainly in his favor that he is a strong, healthy man, in the prime of life."

"And still more that he is a Christian man; therefore ready for any event," added her father.

"And so loved and useful a man that we may well unite in prayer for his recovery, if consistent with the will of G.o.d," said Captain Raymond.

"And so we will," said Cousin Ronald. "I feel a.s.sured that no one of us will refuse or neglect the performance of that duty."

"And we can plead the promise, 'If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven,'" said Mrs. Dinsmore. "So I have strong hope that dear d.i.c.k will be spared to us. He is certainly a much loved and very useful man."

"And Maud must be relieved as far as possible from other cares,"

remarked Mrs. Travilla. "I shall at once invite my brother and his family here. There is room enough, especially as my two sons are there and will be nearly, if not all, the time while d.i.c.k is so ill."

"No, cousin," said Chester, "thank you very much, but Cousin Sue is making herself very useful and could not well be spared. She has undertaken the housekeeping, leaving Maud to devote herself entirely to d.i.c.k."

"Oh, that is good and kind in her," was the quick response from several voices.

"And very fortunate it is that she happened to be there, ready for the undertaking," said Mrs. Rose Croly; "and if d.i.c.k had to have that accident he couldn't have found a better time for it than now, while there are three good doctors at hand to attend to him."

"True enough," a.s.sented Chester. "Things are never so bad but they might be worse."

Days of anxiety and suspense followed, during which Dr. Percival's life seemed trembling in the balance. Drs. Harold and Herbert scarcely left the house and spent much of their time in the sick room, while Dr. Conly made several visits every day, sometimes remaining for hours, and the rest of the relatives and near friends came and went with kind offers and inquiries, doing all in their power to show sympathy, and give help, while carefully avoiding unwelcome intrusion or disturbance of the quiet that brooded over Torriswood and seemed so essential under the circ.u.mstances. Nothing was neglected that could be done for the restoration of the loved sufferer, and no one of the many relatives and connections there felt willing to leave the neighborhood while his life hung in the balance.

Chester spent a part of each day with his distressed and anxious sister, and a part with his betrothed, from whom he felt very unwilling to absent himself for even one whole day.

The young people and some of the older ones made little excursions, as before, on the bayou and about the woods and fields, Captain Raymond and Violet usually forming a part of the company; especially if his daughter Grace and Frank Dinsmore were in it.