Dudley sort of brushed the girls aside and now had his arm around Nicky.
“We’ll see a doctor, kid,” he said kindly. “Then there’ll be no come-back——”
“I don’t want no doctor,” the boy exclaimed excitedly.
“He won’t hurt you,” assured Dudley trying to inspire courage.
“’T’aint the hurt. I’m not afraid, but——”
Barbara guessed why the boy feared any one who might seem to be an official; even a doctor had some authority, and she quickly understood Nicky’s fear. His father had been taken away by officials, and he had not been allowed to come back. How could the child be expected to forget that dreadful scene that had left them worse off than if they had been orphans?
“I’ll tell you,” Barbara exclaimed, “we’ll go see my dad. You know him, Nicky, and he’s a good doctor——”
“But Dr. Landes is just at the corner,” Louise tried to suggest. “Why not go to him?”
“It won’t take but a few minutes to run over to Dr. Hale’s,” Dudley decided. “And my car is in the drive. What about Little Sister?” He referred to Vicky who by now had ceased her wailing.
“I’m going to give Little Sister some ice-cream,” Cara announced brightly. “Won’t that be nice?”