"No, no, dear Mother Sophie," answered Tad, "I will not go until baby is better and can go too. You know I couldn't go home without him."
"Here you, Teddie Poole!" called Jeremiah from the deck of his schooner. "I want to speak to you!"
And Tad ran back quickly.
"Will you go home with us in a few days' time, boy?" inquired the captain. "Or would you rather wait till I come again? I expect to be back here in about three weeks, if all be well, and I'll take you and your friends over then if you like. No, don't thank me, my lad!" he added, as Tad gratefully accepted his second offer. "No need for more words about it. It's only my dooty as a man and a Christian, and it's a pleasure into the bargain. And, praise the Lord, the boat's my own, and I've no one's leave to ask."
[CHAPTER XX]
THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER
THE days passed, and Marie returned from her daily visits to the hospital, bringing no better reports.
"But for that long night of exposure to the cold, damp air, baby Victor would never have been so ill," she had said reproachfully to Tad; "and now, through you and your headstrong folly, this precious little life will most likely be lost. You do not deserve to have a brother."
Tad did not resent Marie's hard words. He knew he merited them richly, and he did not attempt to excuse or defend himself. Truly repentant and humble as he had become, he could not undo the grievous consequences of his sin. So he meekly listened to the woman's reproaches, which he felt came from a very sore heart, and were none the less sharp and bitter for that.
At last there came a time when the doctors said that the little one's life hung, as it were, on a thread, and there was hardly a chance that he could recover. And when poor Marie brought back this news, Tad felt that now his cup of misery and of punishment was full indeed.