“No, ma’am,” he replied, “I don’t feel it hardly any, now; and it hasn’t hurt me much yet, only when the doctor was fixing it.”
For the greater security of Whistler’s finger, which could not bear the slightest touch, his aunt fixed a sling, in which he carried his arm. During the day he experienced but very little pain from the wound, and in this respect was most disagreeably disappointed. Mr. Davenport suggested that his father ought to be informed of the accident; and Whistler decided to write to him that afternoon, as he had the free use of his right hand. The thought of doing this, however, brought a shadow over his countenance.
“I wish I could get along without letting the folks at home know anything about this,” he at length said.
“That would hardly be possible,” said his uncle, “as your finger will not have time to heal up entirely before you go home; and, even if it were possible, do you think it would be right to do so?”
“No, sir,—I did not think of doing so; but I dread to have them know it,” replied Whistler. “Mother will worry about me, and father will say that I was careless,—that’s what he always says when anything happens to me.”
“Isn’t it possible that you were a trifle careless?” inquired Mr. Davenport.
“I suppose I was,” he replied.
“Clinton has used that hay-cutter, more or less, for four or five years, and he never hurt himself with it,” said Mr. Davenport, who really thought that Willie was a little heedless, and wished this accident should prove a valuable lesson to him.
The gathering tears in the boy’s eyes warned Mr. Davenport that he had said enough, if not too much. Clinton, noticing his cousin’s sensitiveness, came to his relief, saying:
“Well, father, I always thought that hay-cutter was a dangerous thing, and I’ve come pretty near cutting my fingers with it more than once. But I’ve thought of a way that I can fix it, so that it won’t cut off any more fingers. I’m going to nail a strip of wood over the place where you put the hay in, close up to the cylinder, so that you can’t reach the knives with your fingers. I’ll go and do it now, and see how it works.”