Tim then proceeded, with the help of his father, to introduce all the Boojummers to his mother. After the formal introduction, he began with the utmost patience to give a detailed account of the accident to the eager ladies, Cousin Esther having joined them in the living room where the stretcher bearers had deposited their burden on a long, low couch.
“And this is the one who found me,” indicating Frances.
“Do tell!” from Miss Esther.
“Now tell me how you found him,” from Mrs. Reynolds. “How you found him and what you were doing there and how you happened to look behind the rock—everything! everything! Don’t leave out a thing.”
Frances proceeded with the narrative. When she got to the place where she went after Jane, her insatiate hostess exclaimed:
“And you tell me what you were doing and what you thought and what you said; please, Jane!”
With a twinkle in her eye, Jane took up the tale which seemed like a game of consequences. The improvised stretcher made its appearance in the story and the distracted mother looked eagerly about as though expecting the stretcher to tell all it knew.
“Now this is where the petticoats come in!” exclaimed Mr. Reynolds. “What did I tell you?”
“You made a stretcher out of the oars and your skirts? Remarkable! Wonderful! What kind of skirts?”
“These we are wearing!” Frances and Jane sounded like a Greek chorus.