"'Twas exactly like letting off a cannon."
But Lionel had to suffer from the consequences of his sin during the weary weeks which followed, when, racked with pain and fever, he lay upon his sick-bed with plenty of time for reflection. How he regretted the many occasions when he had disobeyed the mother who nursed him with such untiring care! He felt he had never loved her half enough, and hoped God would spare his life that he might try to make amends to her for his wilfulness in the past.
[CHAPTER XVII]
THE STORM
LIONEL did not lose his leg as Dr. Warren had at first feared he would; nevertheless, six weeks elapsed before he was sufficiently recovered to be moved from No. 8 Fore Street; but during the latter half of that period he was well enough to receive visitors, and to take a lively interest in all that went on around him. Ruth came and wept over her brother, and would not be satisfied until he had explained to her exactly how his accident had happened; after which she expressed surprise that he had not been killed outright. "I don't know what I should have done if your leg had had to be cut off," she told him in tragic tones; "think how dreadful it would be if you were obliged to wear a cork leg, or a wooden one with a peg in it! Really, Lionel, you were very foolish to get in the way of the blunderbuss!"
"I know, I know!" Lionel answered, flushing. "It was all my fault, but you needn't remind a fellow of it!"
"Well, I won't again," she said, as she gave him an affectionate hug; "I only said what I thought!"
Then Sir Richard came to see his sick grandson—not the old sarcastic Sir Richard before whom Lionel would have been stricken dumb, but a more sympathetic person altogether, who refrained from remarking upon the disobedience which had led to Lionel's accident, judging that his sufferings had been sufficient punishment.
Lionel learnt much as he lay on his bed of sickness, waited on by his mother and Miss Warren, with the assistance of a trained nurse. He grew to like and respect Dick's Aunt Mary Ann, and to feel ashamed that he had ever laughed at her or her kindly brother, whose visits he looked forward to as the happiest moments during the long, tedious days. Then Dick was nearly always at hand—Dick, who, when offered a faltering apology for the manner in which his mother had been spoken of, said he forgave his cousin freely, and would hear no more upon the subject. It was little wonder that the invalid felt he was treated better than he deserved.
The end of October was drawing near when Lionel was removed from the shelter of the doctor's roof to his grandfather's home. Mrs. Compton had accepted her father's invitation to stay at the Manor House till after Christmas, for there was no question of Lionel's returning to school for the autumn term; and Ruth was delighted at the thought of such a long holiday.