“Give him to me,” said Winnie peremptorily, and without waiting took the child in her arms and held him with head and face down. “Jo,” she said, “go telephone for the doctor. Tell him to come as quick as he can. Tell him what has happened.”
Joanne ran out and sent the message, then back she hurried to hear Winnie say: “I believe he is alive, Mrs. Scraggs; I hope so. We shall want hot water and blankets. Jo, you know what to do, just see to getting what we need. There! There! he is breathing. How long was he in the water, Mrs. Scraggs?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know. I was hanging out the clothes and left him on a chair. He must have pitched forward into the tub. It was full of water. I had left it on the floor. I thought one of the other children would watch him, but maybe they didn’t see him fall.”
Joanne, finding that she must take things into her own hands, had stirred up the fire, set the kettle to boil, and was rummaging around for blankets while Winnie stripped the wet clothes from the baby and was wrapping him up in such dry things as were at hand. Mrs. Scraggs had completely lost her head and could do nothing but wring her hands and cry.
By the time Joanne appeared with the blankets she was able to find, the doctor’s automobile was at the door. He had covered the three miles in an incredibly short space of time. “What’s this? What’s this?” he said as he bustled in. “A child drowned?”
“Almost,” replied Winnie, “but I think he’s coming out all right.”
“He was drowned,” said Mrs. Scraggs wiping her eyes. “He would have been an angel by this time if it hadn’t been for the young lady. She brought him to life again, doctor.”
The doctor looked sharply at Winnie and then at Joanne who was folding the warm blankets around the limp little figure. Then the flicker of a smile came into the man’s face. “Oh, Girl Scouts,” he said, “I see. Tell me what happened and what you have done about it.”
“He fell into a tub of water while his mother was out of the room,” Winnie told him. “We happened to get here just in time. I used the Schafer system and was able to bring him around.”
The doctor nodded approvingly. “You did exactly right. He must be kept warm and perfectly quiet. A good long nap will be the best thing. I’ll stay a while to see that his breathing becomes perfectly normal. He’d better be watched for some hours.”