Dud Hollister’s arm was under the ice-coated head in an instant. He looked up at Mollie Gillespie, who had been only a fraction of a second behind him.
“It’s the li’l’ bride,” he said.
She nodded. “Brandy an’ water, Mike. Quick! She’s only fainted. Head not so high, Dud. Tha’s right. We’ll get a few drops of this between her teeth.... She’s comin’ to.”
June opened her eyes and looked at Mollie. Presently she looked round and a slow wonder grew in them. “Where am I?” she murmured.
“You’re at the hotel—where you’ll be looked after right, dearie.” Mrs. Gillespie looked up. “Some one get Doc Tuckerman. An’ you, Tom, hustle Peggie and Chung Lung outa their beds if they’re not up. There’s a fire in my room. Tell her to take the blankets from the bed an’ warm ’em. Tell Chung to heat several kettles o’ water fast as he can. Dud, you come along an’ carry her to the stove in the lobby. The rest o’ you’ll stay right here.”
Mollie did not ask any questions or seek explanation. That could wait. The child had been through a terrible experience and must be looked after first.
From the lobby Dud presently carried June into the bedroom and departed. A roaring fire was in the stove. Blankets and a flannel nightgown were hanging over the backs of chairs to warm. With the help of the chambermaid Peggie, the landlady stripped from the girl the frozen dress and the wet underclothes. Over the thin, shivering body she slipped the nightgown, then tucked her up in the blankets. As soon as Chung brought the hot-water jugs she put one at June’s feet and another close to the stomach where the cold hands could rest upon it.
June was still shaking as though she never would get warm. A faint mist of tears obscured her sight. “Y-you’re awful good to me,” she whispered, teeth chattering.
The doctor approved of what had been done. He left medicine for the patient. “Be back in five minutes,” he told Mrs. Gillespie outside the room. “Want some stuff I’ve got at the office. Think I’ll stay for a few hours and see how the case develops. Afraid she’s in for a bad spell of pneumonia.”
He did not leave the sick-room after his return until morning. Mollie stayed there, too. It was nearly one o’clock when Blister Haines knocked gently at the door.