"I've got a little cold, sir," said Lizzie.
"Yes, I can see you have; so you had better stop here and nurse this girl and yourself too, and I will send you both some medicines," saying which the doctor took up his hat and went away.
Mrs. Stanley fretted and fumed, and declared she could not do without Lizzie at the wax-works; but her husband, who lingered near, reminded her that they had better shut up the wax-works for a day than get into a row, and this doctor would be sure to make a fuss if they did not do what he ordered.
So after a good deal of grumbling, the van was drawn up on the quiet spot the doctor had pointed out, and the rest of the show properties went on to their destination.
Mrs. Stanley could not afford to stay with the girls, and as the bleeding had almost ceased now, she persuaded herself that Tottie would soon be better; and so, telling them she should come back as soon as the shows were set up, she followed the rest of the party.
Tottie had lain still and white, and taken no notice of what was going on while her mother and the doctor was speaking, but as soon as the door closed and they were left to themselves, she opened her eyes and looked at Lizzie eagerly. Lizzie knelt down beside the couch, and put her ear close, but it was a minute or two before she could make out what the murmured whispers could mean.
But at last she managed to make out these words: "Write—letter—quick—money—in—my—frock," and she laid her hand on the bosom of the ragged old dress she wore, and Lizzie, feeling it, found two or three sixpences tied up in a loose piece of the lining.
"Go—quick—get—paper," gasped the invalid, when she saw the sixpences in Lizzie's hand.
But Lizzie would not leave her friend for this now. "I'll hide it in my frock," she said, transferring it to a similar receptable in her own dress; "and I'll write, never fear."
But help was nearer than either of them supposed. Just as it was getting dark, and Lizzie stood at the door watching for the doctor's boy to bring the promised medicine, she saw a weary-looking lad trudging along the road with a basket of tools on his back. A second look convinced Lizzie that it was no other than her brother Jack, and she called eagerly: