Page:Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil.djvu/162



declared that it was due to Betty's skill in nursing more than to his drugs, but it is certain that, once started, the aunts gained steadily. In two or three days from the time they first sat up he pronounced it safe for them to be dressed, and while they were still a bit shaky, they took great delight in walking about the house.

Bob was introduced to them off-handedly one morning by the doctor, and though both old ladies started at his name, they said nothing. After the physician's car had gone. Miss Hope came out on to the back porch where Betty was peeling potatoes and Bob mending a loose floor-board.

"My sister and I—" stammered Miss Hope, "we were wondering if you were a neighbor's boy. We've seen so little of our neighbors these last few years, that we haven't kept track of the new families who have moved into the neighborhood. I don't recollect any Hendersons about here, do you, Sister?" Rh