Gertrude shivered. “We could not send her to a hospital, poor little girl; I think it would nearly break her heart; she is so sensitive and nervous.”
“I know the sort of nature and I understand just how you feel about it, for I had a little daughter of my own; but God took her,” Mrs. Bronson said, a trifle unsteadily. Then, in a lighter tone, she went on, “I shall do my best to win Flossie’s affections while I am here, then, if she is willing to come and spend a few months with me in Victoria next winter, we will see what the doctors there can do for her.”
“You are very kind,” said Gertrude, in a moved tone. “If you live in Victoria, do you know the school for electricians there?”
“Royal Mount College, do you mean? I know it well. My son is one of the professors there. But he has an extended vacation this year, because he has not been well. Indeed, at this present moment he is wandering somewhere on the frontier, I fancy; although whether on the American or Canadian side I cannot say. This is the third year that he has taken his vacation in the same neighbourhood; but this year it has begun a month earlier than usual.”
“Nine Springs is not far from the frontier, and there were great forests in that district; but the scenery was not so beautiful as it is here and at Bratley,” Gertrude said.
“My son told me the same thing. He said that Camp’s Gulch was the most beautiful spot among the mountains, and I expect he will come tramping through this way before many days are over, just to see how I am settling down in the wilds.”
“He will not want to stay here?” asked Gertrude, in some alarm, knowing how scanty was the accommodation of the little house.
Mrs. Bronson laughed. “He will never sleep under a roof in summer, if he can help it. He has a huge umbrella that makes a small tent; then, with a strip of indiarubber sheeting and a blanket, he goes about like a snail with his house on his back. Sometimes he hires a horse; more often he just tramps from place to place.”
“It must be a very pleasant way of getting a holiday, only rather tiring,” said Gertrude. Then she burst out with anxiety that would be no longer suppressed, “I am dreadfully worried about Nell, for I am quite certain she would have been back before now if something had not happened to her.”