“I am glad that you are here,” said Mr. Willing slowly. “I am glad to have some one I can trust in charge of Gabriel. We will be waiting for you when you reach Louisville.”
They shook hands all around and left Gabriel and Leonard alone. Immediately the car door was closed, and a few moments later a switch engine hooked onto the car and soon it was coupled to a long train. Half an hour later the train began to move.
In the meantime the others had made their way to the hospital where Jimmy lay. The boy was much better than they had expected to find him, and the doctor, who was at the bedside, assured them that he was well on the road to recovery.
“Just be careful with him,” he told them.
Jimmy was carried to the depot on a stretcher and made comfortable in a Pullman car; and soon the party were on their way.
At Lexington there was a long delay, and it was nearly midnight before the train pulled out. Shirley and Mabel took turns watching over Jimmy during the night, but their vigilance was unnecessary. For the lad, once he had closed his eyes, did not open them again until the train was nearing Louisville the following morning.
“Where shall we stop, Dad?” asked Shirley, as they prepared to leave the train.
“Guess we may as well go to the St. Charles,” was the reply.
On the platform he summoned a porter, who picked Jimmy up and carried him to a taxi. Mr. Willing climbed in alongside him, and Mr. Ashton and the two girls occupied another.
At the hotel Mr. Willing engaged a suite of six rooms, where all could be comfortable.