"Dot!—little pet!" she tried again; but no second response came.
"She don't hear you! She don't understand! She never will again! She's killed!"—and Mrs. Cragg burst into noisy shrieking sobs, holding the foot of the bed, and shaking it with her movements.
"O hush! please, hush! If she comes to, you will frighten her. Did you not see just now that she opened her eyes? I thought you saw! She may be only stunned; not much hurt. Please stop crying, or go away," implored Pattie. "Please, for Dot's sake!"
But Mrs. Cragg, accustomed only to think of herself, paid no heed to this appeal. She went on sobbing loudly, swaying herself about, and still shaking the bed. Dot moaned again; and Pattie, almost beside herself, went to Mrs. Cragg, and resolutely unwrenched the hand which held the iron bar of the bed.
"Mrs. Cragg, you must not behave like this," she said. "It will not do. You are hurting Dot. She cannot bear the movement. Go out of the room, please, until you can be quiet."
Mrs. Cragg's only concession was to move a few paces off, and there to stand, holding now to the table, and sobbing still in a strident fashion. Pattie went again to Dot, and leant over her, and held her little hand very tenderly. Then, to her relief, Cragg came in, bringing the doctor, a young man with a kind manner, who lived in the next street. Happily, Cragg had found him at home.
"No crying or noise here, if you please," were his first words, as he sat down by the bed. He glanced round, and his eyes fell upon Mrs. Cragg. "I think you had better take your wife into another room until she is quiet," he said to Cragg. Then to Pattie—"You can stay."
He asked a few questions as to the manner of the fall, felt Dot all over, examined her carefully, and looked with especial attention at her head. She opened her eyes, as she had done before, not seeming to know any one. He asked for a lighted candle, which he held close before the child's face. She flinched, and turned away, with a little fretful wail.
"That will do," presently remarked Mr. May; and he went into the next room with Cragg. The latter soon returned.
"The doctor wants a word with you, Pattie. I'll stay here," said Cragg. He had left his wife elsewhere, still violently sobbing, half with genuine distress and half with annoyance at being ordered away.