The Princess and Joe Potter Part 27

The boy had but little hope he would come off victor in this unequal battle; but yet he clung to his adversary, striving to overthrow him, until, in their struggles, the two were at the open door through which Joe had entered.

Leading from the kitchen by this way was a short hall, ending in three steps which led to the shed beyond, and Joe believed the time had come when he might gain an advantage.

At that instant, the burglar was standing with his back towards the pa.s.sageway, and putting all his strength into the effort, Joe flung his whole weight upon the enemy.

The man, taken for the instant at a disadvantage, yielded a single step, and this was sufficient for his discomfiture.

Joe forced him back, until the fellow toppled down the stairs, striking his head against the threshold of the shed door with sufficient force to render him unconscious.

The crash which followed the burglar's fall literally shook the little cottage, and before Joe fully realised he had vanquished the foe, aunt Dorcas was calling him loudly by name.

"It's all right; don't you come down, but send Plums here if you can,"

he shouted, in reply, and then stood irresolutely wondering what could be done.

He had an ill-defined idea that the burglar should be made a prisoner; but how that might be accomplished was more than he could say at that moment.

Aunt Dorcas had ceased to call for him, when he understood that it would be more prudent on his part to secure a light before taking any steps to fetter the burglar, and he stepped back into the kitchen for this purpose; but he had not yet found a match when the little woman entered, holding high above her head a lamp, as she had done on the night when Joe first saw her.

"Goodness gracious, Joseph! What _is_ the matter? You're covered with blood! Have you met with an accident?"

"Now don't get frightened, aunt Dorcas; I ain't hurt."

"Why do you tell me that, Joseph, when I can see for myself? You must be bleeding to death!"

"But I am not, I tell you. I jest got a clip on the nose, an' another one behind the ear; neither of 'em will do any harm. Now don't you get frightened; but I s'pose I've got to tell you what happened."

"Of course you have, Joseph. You don't fancy I can remain silent with such goings on in my house, and not attempt to understand them. What have you been doing to yourself? Why don't you answer? Can't you see you are making me very nervous?"

"I didn't want to tell you, aunt Dorcas, 'cause I was 'fraid you'd get scared; but there's a burglar out here in the shed. I knocked him silly by pitching him down-stairs, an' now I'm tryin' to think how we can keep him from gettin' away."

"A burglar! Keep him from getting away? Why, Joseph Potter, we don't want any burglars 'round this house! For mercy's sake, if the poor, misguided creature will go, don't you try to stop him! Did you hurt him very much?"

Joe was relieved in mind because aunt Dorcas, instead of being terrified at the information that a burglar was in the house, was only solicitous lest he might have been injured, and he replied, grimly:

"I reckon I'm the one what got the worst of that little fuss. You needn't feel so very bad 'bout him, 'cause he's only b.u.mped his head.

But say, we mustn't let him go after what he's tried to do. I'll tie him, an' you call Plums to go for a perliceman."

"Joseph, I never would consent to have a poor fellow arrested; but he shall be talked to severely, for injuring you as he has done. The idea of a grown-up man striking a child so hard as to bring blood!"

However serious the situation, Joe could not have restrained his mirth.

Aunt Dorcas's pity for the burglar, and fear lest he had been injured, was to him very comical, and he laughed heartily, until the little woman said, in a tone of reproof:

"Joseph, that poor man may be dying, and by your hand, while you are making merry. Where is he?"

Joe stifled his mirth as best he could, and, taking the lamp, and the tender-hearted little woman's hand, led the way towards the shed door, as he replied:

"I'll show him to you, aunt Dorcas, an' then if you want to tie a rag 'round his throat, or put a plaster on his head, you can."

But Joe did not make as thorough an exhibition of his burglar as he had antic.i.p.ated.

The man had regained consciousness, and all aunt Dorcas saw of the intruder was a dark form which ran past her into the kitchen, and from there leaped through the open window.

Joe could not have stopped the burglar if he wished, so sudden and unexpected had been the fellow's movements; but he was deeply chagrined that his enemy should thus have escaped so readily.

"He's gone, an' I ought'er be kicked for standin' here chinnin' with you, as if he'd wait till I got ready to tie him up!"

"We should be thankful to him for going without making any more of a disturbance. I'm relieved to know he wasn't seriously hurt, and--How wicked I am to stand here talking about anything, when your wounds should be attended to! It's a mercy you haven't bled to death long before this."

"There's no danger of anything of that kind, aunt Dorcas, and if you'll go right back to bed, I'll tend to myself in great shape. There's no need of your fussin' 'round."

"You must believe me a perfect wretch if you think I could leave you in such a condition. But, Joseph, I would like to go back and dress myself properly."

"There's no reason why you shouldn't leave me till mornin' jest as well as not, so go ahead, aunt Dorcas, an' do whatever you please."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A DARK FORM LEAPED THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW."]

"Sit down here by the table, where you will have something on which to rest your head if you grow faint, and I'll be back in a moment."

Aunt Dorcas closed the kitchen door, lest a draft of air should come upon the boy she believed so grievously wounded, and went to her own room, Joe saying to himself, meanwhile:

"I'd been willin' for him to have pounded me into shoestrings, if it would save me from havin' to tell a woman as good as she is that I ran away from New York to keep out of jail."

CHAPTER XIII.

A CONFESSION.

It seemed to Joe as if aunt Dorcas had but just left the room when she returned, ready for the work of binding up his wounds.

"Do you feel any worse, Joseph?" she asked, laying her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Not a bit of it," Master Potter replied, stoutly.

"Do you think you can bear up until I have built a fire and heated some water?"

"Now, look here, aunt Dorcas, I ain't hurt any to speak of, even though there is a good deal of blood on my face, an' as for bearin' up, why, it wouldn't do me a bit of harm if there wasn't anything done to my face.

I'll build a fire, if it's warm water you're after," and, before the little woman could prevent him, he had set about the task.

While waiting for the fire to burn, aunt Dorcas collected such articles as she believed would be needed, and Joe found it difficult to prevent a smile from appearing on his bruised face, as he watched the preparations.

Several rolls of clean, white cloth, in sufficient quant.i.ty to have bandaged the heads of twenty boys, arnica, antiseptic washes, adhesive plaster, a sponge, cooling lotions, and, as Joe afterwards told Plums, "a whole apothecary's shop full of stuff," was placed on the table in a methodical fas.h.i.+on.

"I guess while this water's bein' heated I'll wash some of the blood off my face, an' then you'll see that there ain't any need of worryin' much 'bout me," Joe said, with a laugh, as he turned towards the sink, and aunt Dorcas cried, excitedly: