“My boy, my boy!” he moaned. But in an instant he recovered himself and made arrangements to have the whole party taken home as quickly as possible.
The surgeon, whose services had at last been secured, did what he could to restore Philip to consciousness, but without success. “He is suffering from shock,” he said, “and may remain insensible for several hours. Get him home and to bed as quickly as possible; I do not think his burns are serious.”
And he hurried away to relieve the sufferings of a lady who had been trampled on by the crowd.
It was a sad party which drove back to Kensington; the sisters were only half aroused from the sort of stupor which seemed to have fallen upon them, and they lay back in the carriage, while upon the other seat sat Lord Ashden, supporting the unconscious Philip in his arms, and keeping his eyes fixed upon the boy’s face with an expression of silent agony.
Miss Acton and Dr. Norton, who had driven home more rapidly, reached the house in time to prepare the minds of Mrs. Norton and Aunt Delia, and to get rooms and beds in readiness for the sufferers, and despatch messengers for medical aid.
The physician who examined Philip shook his head and looked grave, although he spoke encouragingly. The patient was suffering principally from shock and from the effects of the smoke which he had inhaled in such quantities. His burns were not serious, however, though they would doubtless be painful and require careful nursing; he proposed, nevertheless, to spend the night with his patient, and asked that a trained nurse be sent for at once, while, for the present at least, everybody must be excluded from the sick-room but Aunt Delia and himself.
And so, after the poor burned hands had been tenderly dressed and the little sufferer made as clean and comfortable as possible, the silence which had been so imperatively ordered settled down upon the sick-room, and there was no sound but the quick, irregular breathing of the patient and the ticking of the clock on the mantel.