Page:St. Nicholas - Volume 41, Part 1.djvu/273

Rh report the loss of a boy, we shall see it. But with the boy himself what shall we do?”

“Feed him, nurse him, let him come to himself. If his memory is wrong, don’t appear to worry about it, or you ’ll worry him. Let him see your son and your nephew—the sight of them may bring him to himself. Another thing—let him see Harriet.”

“Well—" Mr. Dodd was doubtful.

“She says they spoke together,” explained the doctor. “She brought him his coat. To see her may be just enough to jog his memory.”

“We ’ll try the boys first,” said Mr. Dodd.

“Certainly,” agreed the doctor. “Now just let me run in and take a last look at the lad, Mr. Dodd, and then we ’ll go back.”

In a moment, he came tiptoeing from the room. “Asleep.”

But when the doctor’s carriage had gone, carrying Mr. Dodd, and when the thumping of Nate’s machinery had begun, the boy in the chamber opened his eyes. Then he turned his head so that he could look out of the window, and now he lay gazing into the landscape, while his brow was thoughtfully knit.

It was three days later, and the lad had just had his breakfast. He was at last able to feed himself, although clumsily, having but one good hand. When he had finished, he lay back on his pillows and looked at Nate.

“I ’ve never asked,” he said, “what is the work I hear you doing.”

“Now you ’re talking!” exclaimed Nate. "It ’s nice to have you show interest. You know the mills down in the valley?”

“Yes,” answered the lad. “I hear their whistle four times a day.”

“Well,” explained Nate, “they make cordyroy, velvet, and plush. Now I do some of their dyein’. That machine you hear, she runs my jigger.”

“Jigger?” asked the lad.

“My dyein’ machine,” said Nate. “I ’ll show it to you soon. You ’ll be movin’ about before long.”

“I can get out of bed to-day,” answered the boy. “I ’ve been living on you long enough. It’s time I was—moving on.”

Nate, who was about to go away with the breakfast dishes, turned and set them down upon the bureau. Then he came and stood beside the bed, looking attentively at the boy.

“Meaning?” he asked.