Betty had brought an enveloping white apron and cap with her, and she presented an immaculate little figure as she gently sponged the hands and faces of the old ladies and made their beds tidy and smooth. Doctor Morrison had ordered water toast and weak tea for their breakfast, and when Betty went out to the kitchen to prepare two trays she found that Bob had pumped two pails of fresh water, cleared the table and stacked the dishes in the dishpan and was taking up ashes from the stove while he waited for the kettle of water which he had put on for them to heat.
“I thought you’d need the teakettle yourself,” observed this energetic young man, a streak of soot across his forehead in no way detracting from his engaging smile. “I’ll have to put in an hour or so chopping wood this afternoon. The box will be empty by noon.”
Betty found that both her patients were too weak to feed themselves, so she had to handle one tray at a time. The meal was barely over when Doctor Morrison drove up. He found Bob washing dishes and Betty drying them.
“Well, well, you look as bright as two dollars,” said the gray old doctor merrily. “You don’t need any prescriptions, that’s evident. How are the sick ladies, Miss Nurse?”
“They slept all night—at least, I think they did,” she reported conscientiously. “I never woke up, and I think I would have heard them call, for the door from the parlor was left open and their doors too, of course. They slept about an hour and a half after Bob and I were up and about. But they are very weak. I had to feed them.”
“That’s to be expected,” said the doctor professionally. “We’ll go in and see how the fever is. I don’t suppose they’ve seen Bob?”
Betty shook her head.
“I thought the fewer people they saw the better,” she answered quietly. “Miss Hope was afraid I was doing too much and I told her a boy was here looking after the barns and the stock. That seemed to satisfy her.”
“Well, for two youngsters, I must say you show extraordinary good sense,” the doctor said. “I don’t know what these old ladies would have done if you hadn’t taken hold.”