"Can't rest till I see old Jord. Did I tell you that he insisted on
Aleck's having the room next his, precisely as big and airy as his own?
There's a door between, and when it's open they can see each other. When
I left Jord the door was open, and he was staring in at Aleck, who was
still sleeping off the anesthetic, and a big tear was running down
Jord's cheek. He can't stir himself, but that doesn't seem to bother him
any. He's going to suffer a lot of pain with his back, but he'll suffer
ten times more looking at that bandaged shoulder of Aleck's."
* * * * *
It was four days later that Ellen saw King. She was prepared to find
him, as Burns had called him, "game," but she had not known just all
that term means among men when it is applied to such a one as he. If he
had been receiving her after having suffered a bad wrench of the ankle
he could not have treated the occasion more simply.
"This is mighty good of you," he said, reaching up a well-developed
right arm from his bed, where he lay flat on his back without so much as
a pillow beneath his head. His hair was carefully brushed, his bandages
were concealed, his lips were smiling, and altogether he was, except for
his prostrate position, no picture of an invalid.
"I've just been waiting to come," she said, returning the firm pressure
of his hand with that of both her own.
"And meanwhile you've kept me reminded of you by these wonderful
flowers," he said with a nod toward the ranks on ranks of roses which
crowded table and window sills.
Pages:
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85