There was some hope in this, the children thought. And though Lull shook her head she allowed them to send Andy for Doctor Dixey. It was not until the evening that the doctor came. Lull had promised that they might stay up to hear what he thought about Tom. When he did come, and Lull took him down to Mrs Kelly's house, he stayed there nearly an hour. The children were getting very sleepy when he came back into the school-room.
"Well," he said, pulling up a chair to the fire, "so you want me to cure this boy Tom?"
Mick nodded.
"I think it could be done," Doctor Dixey went on. "But it would cost a deal of money—more than any of us can afford to spend."
"How much?" Jane asked.
"Ten pounds at least, and then it's only a chance. And the old woman will be left alone in any case."
They looked inquiringly at him.
"You see, the only chance is to send him abroad. He'll die if he stays here. And when he gets there he'll have to stay there. So the grandmother would miss him just as much as if he——"
"She wouldn't care," Jane interrupted. "Sure, couldn't he write letters to her if he was alive! An' he couldn't do that if he was dead."
"But the money—where's that to come from?" said Doctor Dixey.