“’Tisn’t the boy, Gwen, it’s Jack!” cried Viva, who had stopped, after vain pursuit of the time.
“Jack, what are you doing?” cried Gwen, and Jack grinned at her from behind the ragged arm holding the bow which he had been joggling.
“Now I am going to have you put out!” cried Gwen, stopping short. “It’s too bad for you to spoil our sport! I should think you’d be ashamed, a great boy like you, to make yourself a nuisance and a baby! Hummie, Hummie! come get Ivan, please; he’s bad.”
It was the second time that Jack had been called a nuisance in less than half an hour, and the first time it had been Jan who had said it. He was in an exasperating and exasperated frame of mind at best, and Gwen’s words infuriated him. Besides, she had called him a baby, and summoned the nurse! His hot temper, always in danger of flaring up, flamed now. With a cry of rage he darted out from behind the musician, snatched up a triangular block, one of Jerry’s architectural building blocks lying by the table, and threw it with all his might at Gwen.
Sydney sprang to catch the uplifted hand, but too late. The block had flown, with the undeviating course of a violent throw, straight at Gwen’s face, and with a moan of pain the poor child threw her arms above her head, covering her eyes, and sank to the floor on her knees.
For an instant no one moved, then Jan and Gladys, white with terror, went to her and tried to raise her, but she drew away from their touch, and groaning, “My eye—my eye is gone!” pitched forward fainting.
“Hummie, Hummie!” shrieked Viva, while Sydney lifted Gwen’s head to his shoulder, and Jack, his wrath spent in the outburst which had done the unknown harm, stood shaking in every limb, a pathetic image of horror, and Jerry ran away screaming “Hummie!” at the top of her voice. Nurse Hummel heard and ran, brushing past Jerry in the hall, and lifted Gwen.
“Was is happened?” she demanded, looking suspiciously toward the Italian standing with his bow raised and his violin at his feet, his face white under the brown tint.
“Jack threw a block—he was mad,” said Gladys hoarsely. “O Hummie, is Gwen blind?”
“Blind! Mein Gott im Himmel!” murmured Hummie, and turned the unconscious girl’s face toward her. Then she hastily let it fall back on her shoulder and gathered her up as though she had been a baby. “Ach, mein liebchen, my smart Gwen, mit die beautiful eyes!” she moaned, and bore her away without answering Gladys’s awful question.