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The colour was coming again into Estelle's white face, and presently there was a flutter of the eyelids. Then she opened her eyes, and gave a bewildered glance at the friends collected round her. She closed them for a moment, as if weary, but only to open them again and smile as she looked up at the anxious faces.
'Come, this is disgraceful,' said the doctor; 'I did not expect to have you on my hands again so soon.'
Estelle smiled; then, recollection returning, she glanced round with terror in her eyes.
'Jack! Oh, where's Jack?'
He came and knelt at her side, and took her hand protectingly in his own strong fingers.
'I'm here, Missy,' he said, in a voice that brought to her a sense of security and peace. 'You are all right now, and quite safe.'
'You see, Jack,' continued the little girl, in a pleading tone, 'I did have something to be afraid of when you were away. You won't be angry if I can't bear you to go away again, will you?'
'What had you to be afraid of?' asked the doctor, his keen eyes watching her changing face.
'I did not know then,' replied Estelle, putting her free hand on her chest; 'but I felt here that there was something I could not understand, and I did not want Jack to go.'