"They always let a man's wife see him when he's badly hurt," said Margaret. "I must go soon."
"It's often a good sign when they say, 'Wait a bit, and let him have a rest before anybody comes.' When a man is so badly hurt that they think there is no chance of pulling him round again, why, then he must be seen soon, if at all. But when they feel sure it's only a question of a little time, and that every minute's rest is doing him good, they like to keep visitors away for their patient's sake. I hope soon to bring you good news."
With these cheery words, Richard left Mrs. Livesey and Sarah together.
[CHAPTER XXII.]
FRIENDS IN NEED.
"HE goes over the ground at a good rate," said Sarah Evans, as she glanced for a moment at the retreating figure of her uncle. "He's sixty-eight, but his step is firm and his hand as steady as a young man's."
"Steadier than many a young man's," replied Margaret. "Some of them get the trembles in their wrists many a year before age has aught to do with them, more's the pity. My poor Adam's hand was all right before this trouble, but I reckon he'll never be the same man again. No more striking for him. An arm that's been broke in two places will not be fit to lift the big hammer for many a month to come, if ever. I should think it will never be strong again."
"Don't you go looking at the dark side, Mrs. Livesey. There's real trouble enough without going off in a hurry to see if we can't find a worse. An hour ago it would have seemed good news just to know that your husband was living, without anything else."
"Aye, that's true. When I thought Adam was killed, there wasn't a bright spot anywhere. If it hadn't been for the children, I could have just lain down and died myself. And worst of all, I hadn't been very good-tempered in the morning, and I let him go without answering, when he spoke to me as kind as could be. He never said a cross word, as many a man would have done; and though I never looked the side he was, I know as well as can be that he kept turning round to see if I gave him as much as a nod from the doorway, before he got out of sight."
"I daresay something had put you out, or maybe you didn't feel quite yourself this morning," said Sarah, willing to find an excuse for the troubled heart.