“What is the matter?” he said, abruptly. “You have been crying. Is anything wrong? Where have all the children vanished to?”
“You have had your tea, sir?” said Nurse, her words coming out in jerks, and accompanied by fresh sobs. “You have had your tea, and is partial rested, I hope, so it’s but right you should know. The entire family, sir, every blessed one of them, with the exception of the babe, has took upon themselves to run away.”
CHAPTER XVII.
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?
Nurse’s news astonished the Doctor very much. He was not a man, however, to show all he felt. He saw that Nurse was on the verge of hysterics, and he knew that if he did not take this startling and unpleasant piece of information in the most matter-of-fact way, he would get nothing out of her.
“I hope matters are not as bad as you fear,” he said. “Sit down in this chair, and tell me what has occurred. Don’t hurry yourself; a few moments more or less don’t signify. Tell your tale quietly, in your own way.”
Thus administered, Nurse gasped once or twice, looked up at the Doctor with eyes which plainly declared “there never was your equal for blessedness and goodness under the sun,” and commenced her story in the long-winded manner of her class.
The Doctor heard a garbled account of the supper in the attic, of the arrival of Mrs. Cameron, of the prompt measures which that good lady took to crush Polly, of Firefly’s grief, of the state of confusion into which the old house was thrown. She then went on to tell him further that Polly, having refused to submit or repent in any way, Mrs. Cameron had insisted on her remaining in her own room, and had at last, notwithstanding all Helen’s entreaties, forbidden her to go near her sister. The housekeeping keys were taken away from Polly, and Mrs. Cameron had further taken upon herself to dismiss Maggie. She had sent a telegram to Mrs. Power, who had returned in triumph to Sleepy Hollow on Saturday night.