Yet it was not without fear that the parents made arrangements for their child's removal to the hospital. They trembled lest their efforts to promote his restoration to health should but do him harm. But the boy felt no fear, and his brave, hopeful spirit served to support him under the inevitable fatigue. His mother herself accompanied him on his journey, for she could entrust the care of him to no one.
The day fixed for their going proved fine and mild for the time of year, which wanted only a fortnight to Christmas. The children were all much excited by their brother's departure, and hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry. For were there not tears in their mother's eyes as she wrapped her warmest shawl around Jerry's fragile form, although she smiled the while, and talked hopefully of the future day when he would come back to them strong and well?
Resting on a mattress in a covered wagon slowly driven by his father, the little invalid reached the station without experiencing any discomfort, and the rest of the journey was accomplished equally well. That night, Jerry slept in the hospital. Lulled to rest by happy thoughts, he passed a very different night from the first his sister had spent within those walls.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
JERRY'S FAITH HAS ITS REWARD.
SOME months later, on a bright June morning, Ellen and Jerry Mansfield were waiting on the Charmouth platform for the train which was to take them home. The face of each was radiant with delight, for they had been counting on this day for weeks, and the flight of time had been far too slow for their eager anticipations. His six months' absence from the home which he had never before quitted even for a day, had been a trial to Jerry's loving heart, and he longed intensely to be with his parents and brothers and sisters once more.
But he was not going home as he had left it. No; his faith had received its reward. The Saviour had not turned a deaf ear to his oft-recurring cry, and he was no longer a helpless boy, with weak and crippled limbs; the bent frame was straightened now, and the little face bore the hue of returning health, though there were still traces of delicacy to proclaim the need for caution.
His recovery had been slow and painful, and his patience had been tried by the restrictions the doctors found it necessary to place upon his movements. For many weeks, he had been obliged to lie perfectly still upon a flat couch, but the boy had borne the restraint without murmuring.
His winning ways won the affection of all about him, and he became a favourite alike with doctors, nurses, and fellow-patients. Miss Graham, who frequently passed an hour by his bedside, was especially fond of him, and her kindness awakened in Jerry's heart the warmest love and gratitude. She fully sympathised in his joy as he felt his limbs regaining power and began to walk, at first only a few steps at a time, but with daily increasing strength.
The doctors were not a little proud of the cure they had effected, and Dr. Graham, much interested in the little lad, took pains to procure him an appliance recently invented for the relief of sufferers from spinal affections, which proved of great assistance to Jerry's feeble frame.