Larry gritted his teeth to keep back the tears that were all too ready to flow. But he put on a brave front.
“Thank you, doctor,” was all he could say.
“Now she must be kept very quiet,” the surgeon said. “The nurse will stay with her, but she must not be disturbed. I will stop in again this evening. Now good-bye, and don’t worry.”
He went out, followed by his assistant, leaving Larry in a sort of daze. The boy tiptoed to the sick room, and knelt down by the door. He tried to listen to hear what was going on inside, but there was a strange ringing in his ears that prevented him. Once he thought he heard his sister groan, and this so frightened him that he ran away.
His mother, who had been cared for by the neighbors, who also looked after James and Mary, came back now, her eyes red from weeping. The nurse came out of the operating room.
“She’s sleeping quietly,” she said. “Everything is favorable. Don’t worry. I think she will get well.”
“Oh, I’m so glad!” exclaimed Mrs. Dexter.
Larry went outdoors. In the street he found quite a crowd of persons who lived in the apartment house, and who, having heard about the operation, were anxious to know how it had come out.
They were full of sympathy for the sick girl, and almost overwhelmed Larry with questions, several women surrounding him and wanting to know all about how “the poor dear child was coming on.”
Larry told them as best he could. It would be some time, he said, before it would be known whether the operation was a success or not, but they hoped for the best.