It did not take Mr. Martin long to hurry out to the front of the house after Ted and Jan had come in with the strange story of the “funny man.” And Mr. Martin had no sooner bent over the man and rolled him to one side, to get a better look at his face, than he cried:
“Why, this poor man is sick! He needs a doctor! Ted, run in and tell mother to telephone for Dr. Whitney. Have her ask him to come right over here. Jan, you skip back to the tool house and see if Patrick is there. If he is, tell him I want him.”
“Yes, Daddy!” exclaimed Janet.
“Yes, Daddy!” echoed Ted, and together they hurried off, one into the house, the other to get Patrick, the kindly old Irishman who cut the grass, made the garden, and did other work about the Martin home.
Janet found Patrick sharpening the lawnmower, ready for a day’s work. Laying that aside, he hurried to the front of the house, where Mr. Martin was bending over the stranger.
“Is he a tramp?” asked Patrick.
“No, indeed,” answered Mr. Martin. “He seems to be a poor man, but he is clean, and few tramps are that. And though some of his clothes are ragged, they are clean, too. Help me carry him into the house, Patrick. I’ve sent for Dr. Whitney.”
And when Dr. Whitney came he said that the man, who had not opened his eyes since he was carried in, was quite ill.
“But I think that if he has a good rest, a little medicine, and plenty to eat he will soon be better,” said the doctor. “Are you going to keep him here, Mr. Martin, or shall I have him sent to the hospital?”
“Oh, keep him here, Daddy!” cried Teddy. “He looks like a good man, and maybe he knows where our Skyrocket is.”