Читать книгу The Parachute Jumper - Percy Keese Fitzhugh - Страница 8

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Donovan was given medical care and after a hypodermic slept soundly on the cot behind Heinie’s Hot Dog Stand which was situated at the farther end of Oakvale’s Fair Grounds. Heinie had risen to the occasion and not only had offered the use of his bed but also his complete Sunday outfit which Donovan was to return as soon as he was able, for his own clothing had shrunk into a pitiable state.

There was a considerable lull in the day’s activities. Most of the pleasure seekers and merrymakers were scattered on each side of the field, some in their cars, some sitting under the trees eating camp suppers. There were to be fireworks as soon as night came on and many were wishing away the bit of salmon-colored sunset that lingered in the west. Tom was not the least of these albeit the fireworks had no place on his program. His wish was inspired by the doctor’s promise that Donovan would have sufficient rest and be well enough to leave Oakvale at eight o’clock. It was then seven-thirty o’clock.

Tom bought another hot dog from Heinie (he had long since lost track of how many he had eaten that afternoon) and went back to the little partition which served as the refreshment man’s bedroom during the summer season. He nibbled nervously at the savory sandwich while watching the peacefully sleeping figure on the cot. Soon Donovan stirred and blinked his eyes.

“You awake?” asked Tom anxiously.

“Mm, but I’m dopey,” came the answer sleepily.

“That’s the hypo, kiddo,” said Tom soothingly. “Listen, kid—I’ve got a few things to tell you. Can you stand it?”

Donovan put his hand to his bandaged head and sat up. “I—I can stand anything after this, I guess. What is it now?”

“First of all, I’ll tell you the good news. Your collection came to almost a hundred and fifty. A hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents to be exact!” Tom reached in his pocket and brought forth a paper bag bulging with the jingling coins. He held it up. “Not many jumpers haul that in these days, Billy kid. But what you’ve gone through today is worth a thousand, huh?”

“You said it. Man alive!” Donovan looked up in amazement.

“I knew you’d be glad.”

“What about that...?”

“Fisherman? That’s what I was going to tell you about. They didn’t find him—not a sign. Must have gone right down to the creek and out to the sound. They’ll probably never find him and that washwoman, Ike Higgins, that you heard talking in the motor boat—he took them over to the island and they went through the poor chap’s effects.”

“Did they find anything?”

“Nothing. Only a suitcase with some odds and ends of clothes. There were initials on the luggage, though—W. A. O.”

“Sounds like a broadcastin’ station,” Donovan observed with sparkling eyes. “Aside from that, it’s pretty tough.”

“You can tell ’em,” said Tom. “But try and not think about it, Donovan. It’s all in a jumper’s life.”

“I—I’m not keen on that stuff any more.”

“Jumping?”

“Yeh. It was awful—like a rat in a trap. I wouldn’t mind hittin’ the grass, but water—never again!”

Tom reached out and put a friendly hand on his shoulder. “We all have our weak spots, Billy. That’s yours and I don’t blame you. What would you like to do—fly?”

“Bet your life.”

“Fine. I’ll teach you sometime. But before we go into that, I want to tell you.... I’m due up in the Adirondacks tonight—Leatherstocking Camp it’s called; a training camp for scoutmasters. I do a dozen and one odd jobs around there during the course of a summer season. Now the point is, Billy, if I don’t get up there before eleven they’ll think I’m not coming and they’ll put out the beacons on the field. And I’ve made up my mind to go there tonight. That’s one thing about me—I like to do what I set my mind on doing, so I ought to be starting pretty quick. But first I want to let you off wherever you want to go. The doc says you ought to take things easy for a little while and I want to help you on the first lap anyway.”

“You’re a good feller—uh....”

“Call me Tom if you like—Slade sounds too formal,” Tom interposed smilingly.

Donovan glanced up and grinned. “How about Slady? I like that still better.”

“Anything, Billy kid. But to get back to the question of the moment—where would you like to go?”

Donovan chuckled. “To tell the truth I’d like to go with you, Slady.”

Tom laughed outright. “I’d like you to go too. Nothing I’d like better, Billy, but I suppose you have someone depending on you—you couldn’t afford to lay off and knock around up there with me the whole summer, could you?”

Donovan laughed. “No one’s depending on me, Slady—no one,” he said a little wistfully, then: “And as for being able to afford it—you forget I’m rich.” He held out the bag and jingled the coins.

“So you are,” Tom laughed. “Well, then that simplifies things. Certainly you look as if you need some of that good mountain air and we’ll see that you eat plentifully.”

“Won’t I be able to pay and help around a little bit?” asked Donovan thoughtfully.

“Forget it,” said Tom. “Just whistle like you did coming over from Brentway Airport and you’ll earn your board. Anyway, Billy, I have the privilege of having a guest every summer. I had invited a friend of mine, Brent Gaylong, to do the honors but he ’phoned me before I left Bridgeboro this morning and said he couldn’t make it until the end of the season. So what do you say?”

Donovan’s eyes lighted up. “I’m on!” he said enthusiastically. Then he glanced down at the borrowed finery he was wearing—Heinie’s Sunday best. “I’ll have to get these things back to this place somehow. I can buy a few rags up there, though, can’t I?”

“Sure,” Tom answered. “But haven’t you any home—any clothes at all, Billy?”

Donovan chuckled sardonically. “Clothes? Home?” he repeated. “Slady, I’m like the turtle when it comes to home and clothes. What I’ve got——”

“Is right before my eyes, eh?” Tom interposed. “In other words you hide nothing and your home is wherever your hat hangs. Well, there’s something refreshing in that, too. Except that it’s a lonely life. You poor kid, that’s all the more reason why we ought to double up. We’ll fly away together, eh?”

“Away from it all,” Donovan returned in mock tragic tones. “We’ll take the gold and let the rest of the world go hang.”

“Righto,” Tom agreed and put his hands under Donovan’s slim shoulders. “You’ll be feeling pretty shaky for a day or two, kiddo, so I’ll help you hobble out to my bus. Now!” Tom felt his body tremble as he got to his feet. “Gosh, you’re pretty well shot, eh? But then you’ve been through a whole lot.”

“You don’t know the half of it, Slady,” Billy said, with an inexplicable shadow in his deep blue eyes.