One arm that lay under him Davie did not try to move, but he put the other about Delbert’s neck and sobbed, “I—want—to go—back—to—to the—path, Dellie!”
A week later Delbert sat down and laughed till his sides ached over the memory of that speech, but at the time it did not strike him as being at all funny.
As soon as she got back to the smooth ground, Esther ran like a little deer, ran and ran, stumbled and fell twice, and picked herself up and ran again till she was out of breath, and walked till she regained it, and ran again. She was all out of breath when she stumbled into the wickiup.
Marian was not there. She and Jennie had started down the new path for water, but in answer to Esther’s wild calls they quickly returned. The tears had made streaks through the dirt that Esther got on her face when she fell, and she was sobbing so she could not talk straight.
“Oh, he wouldn’t mind Dellie, Marian, he wouldn’t mind Dellie, and he fell way down on the rocks, and he’s all broken and bleedy!”
It was not a very reassuring way to tell news certainly. Jennie began to cry, but though Marian’s face went white, she remained calm.
“Esther, who fell?”
“Davie. He wouldn’t mind Dellie—”
“There, there! Listen, Esther! Esther, is he dead?”
“N—n—not yet,” gasped Esther, “but he’s all bleedy and Dellie says his leg is broke, and he is crying awfully.”