"Sweetheart! Sweetheart!" he murmured, "my own girl! Is the pain very bad?"
"Not now," I answered faintly, trying to smile, but only succeeding in twisting my mouth into a grimace of pain. The flames had mercifully spared my hair and most of my face, but there was one burn upon one side of my throat, extending up into my cheek, which made it uncomfortable for me to move the muscles of my face.
"Don't try to talk," Dicky replied. "Just lie still and let us take care of you. Lil will stay, I know, until we can get a nurse here, won't you, Lil?"
As a frightened child might do, I turned my eyes to Lillian, beseechingly.
"No—nurse—just—Lillian," I faltered.
Lillian stooped over me reassuringly.
"No one shall touch you but me," she said decisively, and then turning to the physician, said demurely:
"Do you think I can be trusted with the case, doctor?"
"Most assuredly," the physician returned heartily. "Indeed, if you can stay it is most fortunate for Mrs. Graham. Good trained nurses are at a premium just now, and great care will be necessary in this case to prevent disfigurement!"
A quick, stifled exclamation of dismay came from Dicky.