[CHAPTER III]
THE GIPSIES' ENCAMPMENT
THE following morning, at the breakfast-table, Mr. Burford remarked to his little daughter: "Dr. Brewer's coming to see you some time to-day, my dear, so you must stay indoors until he has been here."
"Very well, Father," Nellie answered. "Did you ask him to come?" she inquired. "He said the last time he saw me that he shouldn't call again without he was sent for, and I'm not ill, you know."
"No, not ill," Mr. Burford agreed. "But you're not very strong, are you? Didn't I hear you complaining of leg-ache last night?"
"Yes," said the little girl; "my legs are always aching now, and they feel so weak and funny sometimes, just as if they were somebody else's legs, not mine."
"Perhaps Dr. Brewer may be able to give you some medicine to put them right," suggested Tom. "He may, mayn't he, Mother?"
"Oh, I hope so," Mrs. Burford replied. She spoke with a smile and in a cheerful tone, but her glance as it rested on her little daughter showed anxiety to Tom's sharp, watchful eyes.
Nellie was looking very pale and languid this morning, and did not in the least mind having to remain indoors. Breakfast over, Tom said he would walk to the bank with his Father, and soon afterwards the pair set off together, accompanied by the ever-ready Tim.
"Father," began the boy, as soon as they had left the house, "I believe you're worried about Nellie, aren't you?"