“I can see now how cruel, yes, and foolish, I was to bind myself by that vow, and keep from communicating with my family all this time. I might have been saved much suffering, and spared her the same. But I believed I had almost broken her heart by my folly, and meant to punish myself in justice. A baffling Fortune gripped me, too; twice I was in almost good shape to come back and clear my name, when a sudden shift swept my savings away, and left me stranded again on the rocks.”
“But it’s all right now, father; and after we can get you down to Chester, the town where we are now living, you will soon be able to walk again.”
“That’s going to be a difficult job, I’m afraid, son,” said the other, with a grimace, as though a pain reminded him just how badly off he was. “You see, I’ve always been under a handicap, with that one short leg; and now that the other is knocked out of business, I’m nearly helpless.”
“Oh! leave that to my chums here, father,” Amos cheerily told him. “They are master hands about doing things; and I reckon we’ll soon be able to make some kind of litter on which we can carry you every step of the way.”
“How fine of you to say that; and how proud I am of my boy! I only hope and pray that the bitter experiences through which I have passed may always serve as a guide-post to you through life, warning you of the hidden perils when once wrong thoughts find entrance to the mind.”
Meanwhile Elmer and Wee Willie had done their best to ease the pain. A sprained ankle can be a thing of anguish, and its effects are often felt for many moons after it happens; indeed, most persons would really sooner endure a broken leg than such an affliction, since a fracture mends much quicker.
They found that Perk had done very well, considering his inexperience; his work was of course a bit bungling, though it had done wonders in easing the pain, and also helped keep down the swelling considerably.
“We’ll keep you quiet while up here with us, Mr. Codling,” Elmer told him; “and in a few days you’ll be in much better shape. Then, as Amos says, we’ll manage to rig up a stretcher, and carry you all the way to Chester; or else to some farm-house on the main road below, and phone for a car to meet us.”
“Thank you a thousand times, Elmer,” said the other, earnestly. “You are all splendid chaps, and I’m a fortunate man to find myself so well taken care of. I shall be counting the hours and minutes until I can see my family again; but with Amos beside me, to answer all my questions, I’ll try to rest content. Surely I have no reason to be unhappy, now that the clouds have rolled away, and the sun of peace is shining for me and mine again.”
He smiled bravely, and Elmer had a faint suspicion there was a sparkle in his eyes that meant something. Just as he formerly guessed that Amos must be carrying a heavy and secret load on his young shoulders, from his serious manner, so Elmer now shrewdly decided that Mr. Codling was keeping something back, something which presently he would be springing as a surprise.