Page:The Star in the Window.pdf/32

22 mother had her runaway accident accident. The runaway accident, followed by a night of exposure spent by the roadside, had resulted in a serious illness for Eunice. When Augusta returned from Machias and appeared at 89 Chestnut Street she found David in a pitiable condition.

"They're ruining me, Augusta," he said to her in a voice that quavered. "They think I'm a rich man, and I'm not—I'm not! I don't know how many calls the doctors make, nor how many doctors call, nor how many specialists from Boston, nor how many of those expensive trained nurses I'm paying for at the rate of twenty-one dollars a week and board, nor who the woman is they call an accommodater they said I'd got to have in the kitchen, cooking my food and throwing it away untouched in the swill. I found eight whole boiled potatoes there last night, and half a loaf of bread yesterday, and the day before half a chicken. Yes, I did! Oh, they're ruining me—between them all, they're ruining me, Augusta."

Augusta placed her hands upon her hips. She was a tall woman, a good head-and-a-half taller than David. At forty-five she was a handsome woman, too, with ruddy cheeks, and crisp hair, brushed stiffly up from her forehead, and rolled into a formidable peak on top of her head. She thrust her chin toward David.

"Want me and Emma to come up here, and help you out, David?" she inquired. "Trained nurses! Accommodaters! Specialists! Bosh! It won't take me two hours to clean this house of such nonsense!"

David had always been afraid of this energetic sister-in-law of his. Best to keep a watch away from