I was quite unable to speak, and owing, as I learned later, to Tish’s head catching her near the waist line, Aggie had no breath even to scream.
There was a dreadful silence. Then Tish said, without moving:
“All my property is to go to Charlie Sands.”
“Tish!” I cried, in an agony, and Aggie, who still could not speak, burst into tears.
However, a moment later, Tish drew up first one limb and then the other, and observed that her back was broken. She then mentioned that Aggie was to have her cameo set and the dining room sideboard, and that I was to have the automobile, but the next instant she felt a worm on her neck and sat up, looking rather dishevelled, but far from death.
“Where are you hurt, Tish?” I asked, trembling.
“Everywhere,” she replied. “Everywhere, Lizzie. Every bone in my body is broken.”
But after a time the aching localized itself in her right arm, which began to swell. We led her down to the creek and got her to hold it in the cold water and Aggie, being still nervous and unsteady, slipped on a mossy stone and sat down in about a foot of water. It was then that our dear Tish became like herself again, for Aggie was shocked into saying, “Oh, damn!” and Tish gave her a severe lecture on profanity.
Tish was quite sure her arm was broken, as well as all the ribs on one side. But she is a brave woman and made little fuss, although she kept poking a finger into her flesh here and there.
“Because,” she said, “the First Aid book says that if a lung is punctured the air gets into the tissues, and they crackle on pressure.”