“The boy is very sick, Mrs. Haddon,” he said. “It will take good nursing to pull him through and plenty of nourishing food.” He lowered his voice again and the rest of what he said was lost in a meaningless murmur.
In the kitchen the girls stared at each other.
“Plenty of nourishing food,” whispered Billie. “Where is he going to get it?”
“I guess,” said Laura, as she opened the door, “it is up to us!”
CHAPTER VII—SETTLING A SCORE
The girls walked back to school in a rather thoughtful frame of mind. They were sorry for poor Mrs. Haddon, and they were worried about little Peter.
“The sandwiches and milk and things that we brought this morning will last them a little while,” Billie said. “But I don’t suppose Miss Walters would want us to take them food every morning.”
“Oh, and that reminds me!” cried Laura. “You haven’t told us yet what happened after we ran for the doctor and left you alone with Mrs. Haddon.”
“There isn’t very much to tell,” said Billie. “She didn’t want to touch the basket at first, but when she thought of the kiddies she changed her mind. She said that the children hadn’t had any real nourishing food since the day before yesterday.”
The girls were silent for a moment, letting this last remark of Billie’s sink in. Then it was Billie who broke the silence.