[CHAPTER XV]
SACRIFICES
It was many an hour before Nan was relieved of her self-imposed task of keeping house for old Daniel Boggs, and in the meantime Daniella was going through such experiences as her wildest dreams had never suggested to her.
Polly drove directly home to consult her parents about the best way to set to work to look for Mrs. Boggs, but she found neither her father nor mother at the house, though her brother Tom happened to be in, and volunteered to go down-town to make inquiries.
"If anything has happened to her in town, they will know at the police station or the hospital," he said. "I'll go to the station first, for it is right on my way. If I hear anything there, I'll follow it up."
Polly led Daniella, conscious of new shoes and jacket, into the house where she sat stiffly on the edge of a chair, refusing to move or to speak, lost in wonderment. Never before had she been in such a room as that into which Polly took her, although it was but the plainly furnished sitting-room of an ordinary house. Never before had Daniella seen pictures in gilt frames, books in colored bindings, carpeted floors or curtained windows. She sat as if in a dream, staring around in amazement. She was too proud to ask questions, too shy to leave her chair, too embarrassed to speak.
Within half an hour, Tom Lewis returned. He called to Polly, but Daniella heard him, and with a swift direct movement darted toward the entry where he was. She stood rigidly erect waiting for his first words. "Come out here, Polly," he said. "I want to speak to you." And he led his sister to the porch. "I couldn't tell you while that child's great eyes were upon me," he said. "I have found her mother. She is at the hospital badly hurt. She has been unconscious, or at least delirious, and they could not discover her name till this morning. Now, what's to be done?"