"You'd better come with me and see him, Lucy," he said to his wife.
Nothing could have more alarmed the girls. On no occasion had Mr. Leighton ever referred to his wife as Lucy.
"Oh, Cuthbert must be dead," cried Betty.
"Nonsense," said Mr. Leighton, with a white face. "Where is Harry?"
Harry had slipped out after a direct glance from Mr. Maclean, and was at that moment assisting two doctors to lift Cuthbert from a carriage.
"Look here, you kids," sang out Cuthbert, "I've only broken a rib or two. You needn't look scared. I shall allow you to nurse me. You won't be dull, I can tell you."
Mrs. Leighton gave a sharp little gasp. Her face looked drawn and only half its size.
"Oh, Cuthbert," she said.
"I won't move," said Cuthbert, "till you stop being anxious about me. Maclean, you are a bit of an idiot--look how you've frightened her!"
Elma found Betty in partial hysterics in the dining-room with Jean hanging over her in a corresponding condition.