"Oh yes, I have done it every day lately, when you were all out of the way. The worst of it is, I have no shoes."
"Poor Clarice! The little pair you wore that dreadful day wouldn't be of much use now! Oh, what a day that was! It haunts me in my dreams even now."
"I don't recollect much after I fell. Look, Guy, don't I stand up gallantly? And, oh, how tall I feel! Kiss me; I want to be kissed without being stooped over."
Guy kissed her with tears in his eyes. "Clarice," he said, "you have the spirit of a hero!"
Then he got a bit of string and made his measurements carefully; and next day he lost no time in setting to work. The fact that for several days he covered the floor with chips and shavings, and that he and Clarice had great consultations about a queer-looking pillow, raised no suspicions, for Guy was often seized with a fit of inventing, and would work away at every spare moment over his models. He was as clever with his hands as with his head, and the crutch was not so very heavy after all. The whole way to E— did he walk to buy a pair of shoes for Clarice; and surely no shoes, since Goody Twoshoes' time, ever gave such pleasure.
The first time Clarice crossed the room on her crutches, she very nearly fainted, so great was her nervousness. But perseverance does wonders—"use lessens marvel." And after a few trials, she could use them cleverly, and was quite fearless.
Guy's pride and delight at seeing her once more able to get about (though in far different fashion from the dancing step which had so often led him into mischief in old times) were very great. He declared that the time had now come for letting the others into the secret.
Aymer, Helen, and Agnes, who were in the garden, were accordingly surprised to hear him calling out—
"Holloa, there! You are very late! Here is Clarice coming to look after you."
And there, indeed, in the doorway, stood Clarice, whom Agnes had never seen stand before! Her long black hair had fallen out of the net she usually wore, and, hanging over her shoulders, quite concealed the fact (of which, alas! they soon became aware) that long lying in an uneasy position had brought on a slight curvature of the spine; her cheeks were flushed with excitement, her eyes bright with amusement at their surprise.