Читать книгу A Novel Without a Name - William Aubrey Burnage - Страница 5

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The sun rose brightly upon Woodbine Cottage, as aunt Letitia's neat little suburban residence was called, while the tragedy of the cat and the top-string was being discovered in Dr. Shelwood's garden; but a full half hour before that time Masters Frank Seymour and Harry Fenton were up and out in the dim break of day, with their skates under their arms en route for the "Serpentine." 'My word, old fellow, we'll have a jolly hour on the ice, and get back to breakfast as ravenous as wolves in Lent,' said Frank, opening the gates of Kensington Gardens and holding it back for Harry. 'The ice 'll be just the thing this morning.'

'Yes, Frank! Hurry on, old fellow; it don't take long for an hour to slip away, when you're skating; and it'll be time to go home, long before we're ready, you know.'

The boys hurried along, and in a very few minutes had reached the edge of the glassy floor, over which they were soon describing circles, curves, and pirouettes, as gracefully as any of the group of pleasure-seekers then and there engaged in the healthy pastime of skating. Cleverly and elegantly they glided backward and forward upon the polished surface of the ice, darting hither and thither, round and round, as easily and fearlessly as if skating had been their principal business in life, and they had given their whole attention to it. So beautifully even and exact were their evolutions, that many accomplished skaters suspended their own amusement and watched the boys in admiration.

But, presently, their sharpened appetites reminded them very urgently, that it was time to get home to breakfast.

'Come, Harry, I'll give you twenty yards and race you to the bridge and back, before we go home!'

'Done!'

The merry-hearted youngsters soon got into position, and after a couple of false starts, away they shot like arrows, and in their great speed appeared almost to fly. The bridge was reached, and although Frank was reckoned the fastest skater in the school, he had not gained a foot, and his competitor began to feel sure of carrying off the honours for that once, at least. But Frank was only 'holding on' as he called it, till Harry should get a little winded. They had almost travelled half the return distance, when Frank put on a spurt, and shot by his companion like a bird, shouting tantalizingly as he passed him, 'Good-bye, old fellow; I'll see you to-morrow!'

Beaten, as he thought, beyond all chance of retrievement, Harry gave up the contest and turned aside to the bank. He leisurely took off his skates, and threw himself down to wait for Frank to return. A couple of minutes passing, and Frank not coming up, Harry looked towards the end of the ice to call upon him to hurry, when to his utter astonishment and consternation Frank had disappeared as entirely as if he had dissolved into air.

'Good heavens! What has become of him?' he exclaimed, in horror, springing to his feet and glancing up and down the ice in anxious search. A dozen people were skating towards a spot where a group of persons were collected; and, feeling an undefined presentiment of some impending calamity, he dashed off towards the spot. Several times during the short distance he slipped down, but not being hurt picked himself up and soon reached the spot, to which skaters were hurrying. 'What's the matter? Where is he? Oh, where is Frank?'

'Under the ice!' was the laconic reply of an old gentleman who stood with his arms folded, looking thoughtfully down into a large fissure in the brittle and treacherous floor.

'And you can stand there as unconcerned, as if he is not being drowned?' Harry cried with a bitter contempt; and snatching off his boots, was about to leap through the broken ice into the freezing, numbing water.

'One at a time, my little friend,' said the old gentleman, holding him back, and speaking in a slow, measured voice, that almost drove Harry mad, with its tone of unconcern.

'Let me go!' the excited boy cried, as he struggled desperately to free himself from the old gentleman's grasp.

'Wait a moment! See, here comes a man with a strong board to lay across the thin ice. We can do nothing without it.'

Harry did not wait to hear the words, but shaking himself free, plunged headlong into the water.

'Umph! What folly! Now there'll be two to bring round!' the old gentleman said testily, and turning to the man, who was approaching with the board, he shouted, 'Look alive there! Here's another of the cubs in the water!'

In a second or two the board was placed across the fissure, so that by its width covering a large space of the thin ice, greater power of sustaining anyone, who might attempt the rescue, would be given it.

'Now, Mr. Raby, you just take hold of my legs, and I'll lay down and fork them both out from under the ice in no time.'

'Look alive then!' said Mr. Raby, whose listlessness evaporated the moment activity could be of service. The man threw himself down upon his chest, and groped about under the ice.

The man grasped Harry's jacket as he rose, and dragged him almost out of the water, when a warning creak in the ice caused him to speedily let go of his hold and rise to his feet. 'Shove the board this way a little; the ice is thicker,' he said to old Mr. Raby; but that gentleman had not waited for the suggestion, but did so instantly the other had risen; and the moment it was done the man laid himself down to make another attempt at saving the boys.

'Look sharp there! It's jolly cold in here!' shouted Harry, his teeth chattering with the chill the freezing water had given him. 'Look alive, I can't hold him up all day.'

'Hold on for a second, my brave lad! We'll have you out directly!' said Mr. Raby, encouragingly; and the man again seized Harry's clothes, and this time succeeded in drawing him out, and with him the limp and, to all appearance, lifeless body of his friend Frank.

'Never mind me; I'm all right! Run for a doctor!' cried Harry savagely in reply to Mr. Raby's eager enquiry as to how he felt.

'Don't flurry yourself, my boy; I'll look after your friend. Here, Mr. What's-your-name, run across into the park to our crib on the bank yonder, and tell them to prepare for a case. I'll be there with the body directly.'

'What, the Humane Society's house?'

'Yes! yes!'

The man ran off at the top of his speed, and Mr. Raby pushed Harry aside, as the excited boy stooped down to snatch up his unfortunate friend, and took him up himself. 'Come along my boy. I can carry him better than you. Now don't fret; he's not dead yet; he wasn't in the water long enough to do much harm!' the stranger said soothingly, as Harry began to express his grief with great vigour and energy. Mr. Raby carried the dripping boy as quickly as possible to the house that the Humane Society had built on the bank of the Serpentine for the purpose of using in such cases, and after an hour's steady application of the Society's receipt for the restoration of the apparently drowned, Frank was so far recovered as to be able to walk to nearest cabstand.

'Well, my lad, you're a brave fellow!' said Mr. Raby to Harry, as the boys were about to leave the spot. 'I don't mean so much for jumping in to save your friend—even a dog would have done that—but for the cool and patient manner you did everything I told you in assisting to bring him round. Most boys would have only bellowed and wrung their hands, and been a general nuisance!'

'I dare say I'd have cried too, if that could have done any good!' replied Harry, scarcely suppressing tears of joy—in fact, more than half crying then, despite his boast.

'I can never forget Harry's courage in fishing me out, sir; nor your kindness in doctoring me up afterwards!' said Frank, fervently.

'My eyes, but it was jolly cold!' exclaimed Harry, shivering at the bare recollection.

'You must get away home, my lad, and change your clothes; or you may take cold: but before you go, I will tell you both what to do in similar cases. We never know when our knowledge may not be of some service to others, and should always be ready to learn all we can for that purpose,' said Mr. Raby, gravely. 'The first thing to do is to dry the body. Then you must make it breathe, and induce it's blood to flow through the veins. The first we call respiration, the second circulation. Now, recollect, the first one must always be accomplished first. You must never begin to induce the circulation of the blood until the patient has shewn unmistakable signs of respiration. Now, the method that I adopt, which one of you has just seen, and the other experienced, is to place the body upon its back upon a bed, that has been raised a few inches at the head. Then the mouth must be opened and kept so by placing a reel or something between the teeth; and then to allow a free passage to the lungs for air, the tongue must be drawn out and fastened so, by being tied by a piece of ribbon. When this is done I take up a position at the head, and grasp the arms of the patient a little above the elbows and gently and steadily raise them above the head for two seconds to cause inspiration or taking in breath, and then turn them back and press them gently and firmly against the sides of the chest for another two seconds to occasion respiration or breathing out. And this must be continued until there are signs of returning life. Then the circulation must be attended to, and the best method of doing so, is to rub the limbs upwards with warm flannels, with a firm grasping pressure and energy; and have hot bricks applied to the pit of the stomach, the armpits, and the soles of the feet. A teaspoonful of warm water poured into the mouth, is an excellent thing to soften the throat, and when the patient is a little recovered, a small dose of brandy, and a few hours sleep. By-the-bye, you mustn't forget that the mouth must be kept dry, by continually wiping it. Now, boys, you may think all this lecture unnecessary; but, as you have both just seen, our knowing this has probably saved the life of one of you, and who knows, some day one of you may, if you don't forget what I now tell you, have an opportunity of saving life too. But hurry along home, or a cold may do what the water didn't. So, good-bye.'

The boys thanked their kind, but eccentric friend, and taking his advice, hurried away back.

'I say, Frank, old fellow, I like your aunt, though she aren't much to look at!' said Harry, as the lads came in sight of Woodbine Cottage.

'And she's as good as she looks,' exclaimed Frank, with enthusiasm, not fully catching Harry's words. 'And how do you like little Polly, my sister?'

'I can't say, Frank. I only saw her for a few minutes; but I shall like her if she's anything like you!'

'I'm sure you'll like her old fellow. She's the best girl you ever met!' said the fond brother.

Harry not altogether endorsing the sentiment—the image of somebody else rising, in girlish beauty, before his mental vision—he assented silently by a doubtful nod, and changed the subject by proposing a race home, which was agreed to; and a five minutes sharp spin brought them to the gate, at which aunt Letitia was looking out for them, little Polly at her side.

'Oh you bad boys, where have you been to all this time, and breakfast over this two hours! And Harry drenched too! Dear me, dear me, whatever have you been doing!' cried the anxious old lady, who had been in a terrible fidget since nine o'clock, the hour they had promised to return.

'Only seeking adventure, auntie dear; and see I have brought you home a real live hero!' said Frank laughing, and pointing at Harry with pride and gratitude.

Miss Letitia looked enquiringly at Harry, who blushed and stammered. 'It wasn't me; It was an old man in the Gardens that saved him!'

'Saved who? You boys will drive me mad with your enigmas!' cried the old lady, almost going into hysterics with terror and anxiety.

'Now, just you hold your tongue, old fellow, and let me tell the story my own way,' said Frank, pushing Harry aside.

'Come inside first. Harry'll catch cold with his wet things!' suggested Polly, thoughtfully suppressing her natural curiosity until their visitor was safe from harm. Miss Letitia took the hint and led the way to the breakfast room, where a good fire was burning.

'Now Frank, take Harry up to your room, and get him a change. You can tell us the adventure over your breakfast!'

'And I will make you some toast myself, though you know you don't deserve it, either of you, for putting auntie and me in such a fright!' put in the little maid, taking up the loaf and beginning to cut off some slices for that purpose. In a few minutes the boys returned; and before the coffee was poured out and cool enough to touch, Mary's donation of toast was ready and on the table.

'Now for the adventure, Frank. Harry does not seem inclined to talk about it!' said Miss Letitia; and Polly's large blue eyes dilated in expectant interest. Frank laid down his slice of hot toast, which he had just pronounced "A1" and began the narration of the morning's accident, interlarding his recital with unbounded praise of Harry's "pluck," as he called it. Polly's sympathetic eyes filled with tears as Frank told of Harry's leaping into the freezing water to his rescue. 'Oh, how brave and good he must be!' she thought glancing with timid admiration upon the shy and uncomfortable boy, who from that day appeared to her girlish imagination a hero deed.