Five Little Peppers and their Friends

  XVIII

  THE COMFORT COMMITTEE

  "Oh, Mary!" Eleanor Keep seized Miss Taylor's arm and burst into tears.When she could speak she gasped, "What is it, Mary?"

  "Hush!" warned Mary Taylor, drawing her off into the little reception-room."Your mother--we must think of her, Nell."

  "Mr. Delafield is telling her something. I know it is dreadful." Eleanorsank upon the sofa, dragging Mary Taylor with her. "Oh, I shall die if youdon't tell me right off what _has_ happened, Mary."

  "Not a word shall you hear until you can control yourself," declared MissTaylor, wresting herself away from the nervous grasp, and running over tothe door she closed it. "Now then, Nell, are you a sensible girl?"--comingback.

  Eleanor flung herself down on the sofa, and sobbed:

  "Oh, I know Larry is dead and you are trying to keep it from me."

  "Larry is not dead," said Mary Taylor.

  "Well, he is terribly hurt," said Eleanor, between her sobs. "Oh dear, myonly brother, Larry!"

  Mary Taylor got down on her knees by the sofa, and took the poor head up tolet her own tears fall over it.

  "Why, you are crying yourself," exclaimed Eleanor, feeling the dropstrickle down her neck. "And you told me not to. Why, Mary Taylor!"

  "Of course I am," said Mary. "Now see here: we are both of us very wrong togive way in this fashion; we ought to be seeing to your mother. Get up,Eleanor," and she sprang to her feet. "There, that's right. Come on."

  Some one rapped at the side door, and the confusion in the house callingthe maids from their duty, the butler belonging to the establishment of thenext neighbor, Mrs. Sterling, popped in his head.

  "Excuse me, Miss," he said to Mary Taylor, Eleanor being beyond a reply."Mrs. Sterling has sent for you ladies to come in there and stay until thedoctors are through."

  At the word "doctors" Eleanor shivered and covered her eyes.

  "The very thing," said Mary Taylor; "we'll get your mother in there"; andwith a message back to Mrs. Sterling the two young ladies hurried off, andbefore Larry's mother quite knew how, she was in the beautiful upper roomof the stately brownstone mansion, and face to face with its invalidmistress, condemned for years to lie on her sofa.

  "I do believe," said Mrs. Sterling, putting out a soft hand, "thateverything will be much better than you think. We shall soon have cheeringnews, I feel quite sure. Gibson, draw up the easy-chair, so--that's right."

  Gibson quietly did as bidden, and Mrs. Keep sank into it, and laid down herhead with the air of one quite done with the world. To add to the gloom, aterrible thunderstorm broke suddenly.

  "Now give me your hand." Mrs. Sterling leaned over and drew it within herown. Seeing all things going on so well, Mary Taylor and Eleanor drew offinto the hall.

  "Young ladies," said Gibson, coming out softly, "wouldn't you wish to godown into the drawing-room? Mistress would like to have you make yourselvescomfortable. The storm is pretty heavy, and I'll light the gas."

  "Oh, no, no," said Eleanor, shrinking at the invitation. "Mary, don't let'sgo," she whispered; "I should die there in that big, stiff room."

  "We'll sit just here," said Mary Taylor. "Come on, Nell," and down theyboth got on the top stair, huddling up together, while the storm ragedoutside in its fury.

  "Oh, young ladies!" exclaimed Gibson, starting, "I'll get you some chairsif you want to sit in the hall."

  "We like this," said Mary Taylor; "please, Gibson, don't feel troubled." SoGibson went back to her mistress' room, and Mary put her arm aroundEleanor, and patted her hair as she cuddled up to her neck.

  "Mary, I like you so much," sobbed Eleanor, in a muffled voice, "becauseyou don't try to say something to comfort me."

  Mary kept on patting the pretty hair, with anxious ears for the messengerto come from the Keep household. Presently out came Gibson again.

  "I'm going out to bring in those boys," she said; "Mistress wants it."

  "What boys?" asked Mary quickly.

  "The whole of them," said Gibson; "they've been hanging around ever sinceMaster Larry was brought home, and----"

  "Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Eleanor faintly.

  "And Mrs. Sterling wants them invited in here to wait?" exclaimed Mary."How kind of her! Now, then, Nell, that's work for you and for me: we musthelp those boys to get a little comfort"--as Gibson went quickly down thelong stairs on her errand.

  "Oh, I can't," cried Eleanor, burrowing into the soft neck.

  "Yes, you can."

  "I'm his sister. And you can't expect me to see them."

  "Yes, I do," said Mary firmly; "it's exactly what you ought to do. I'mgoing down to welcome them, and you must come too. Come on, Eleanor; we'vesimply got to do it."

  Eleanor, seeing nothing for it unless she were to be left alone on herstair, which would have been the last thing to be endured, got up andfollowed slowly, to be met at the big door leading to the side porch by thecompany of gloomy-faced boys.

  "Well boys," said Mary cheerfully, "I'm glad you've come to help Eleanorand me."

  Every boy looked up in great surprise, for they all supposed they were leftto comfort themselves.

  "Can't we sit in the dining-room?" asked Mary, with a thought for thecheerful red carpet and curtains.

  "Mistress wants them to come up into her sitting-room," said Gibson.

  "Her sitting-room!" exclaimed Mary.

  "Yes, Miss. She says they can help Mrs. Keep and her," said Gibson,standing with folded hands deferentially, but yet quite expecting thecommand to be carried out.

  The boys stood up a little taller yet. Evidently they were thought worthyof consideration in the way of administering consolation instead of hangingaround, useless creatures in everybody's way.

  "In that case," said Mary Taylor, "we'll all go upstairs at once."

  So they all filed up the long flight, and Gibson held open the door, andMrs. Sterling from her sofa called out, "Boys, yon don't know how glad I amto see you all." And just as they began to feel a little bit of hope downin their hearts, it was so much easier all bearing the suspense together, alight tripping step came up the staircase, and little Doctor Fisher's bigspectacles were thrust in the doorway.

  "Just right. Very sensible." He beamed at them all, and darted over andtook the poor mother's hand.

  "Your boy is all right," he said. "His collar bone is broken, to be sure,but it is a beautiful fracture. And he has some bruises. Thank the Lord itis no worse."

  There was a rustle back of him. Then two or three boys broke from the groupand fell upon him in the rear.

  "Is that true?" the foremost one shouted.

  "Eh?"--little Doctor Fisher whirled around--"yes indeed, true as gospel.Oh, see here now," as the whole bunch made a mad plunge for the hall. "Comeback here, boys."

  Every single one came slowly back, except Frick; he had cleared the spaceto the top of the stairs, and was now making his quickest time on recorddown the flight.

  "You are not to cheer; I see you want to," and Doctor Fisher gave a littlelaugh.

  "Yes, sir," Curtis Park answered for the rest.

  "Well, you----"

  "Doctor Fisher"--it was Mrs. Sterling who interrupted, and she smiled--"Ishould very much like to hear that cheer now."

  _"Ma'am!"_ exclaimed the little doctor, gazing at her over hisspectacles.

  "Oh, it would do me good, I assure you," said Mrs. Sterling, leaning backin a satisfied way against her pillows. "So, if you please, boys, let mehear it at once"--smiling at them.

  And they gave it then and there, the poor mother in all this confusiongetting time to recover herself.

  And then three more for the little doctor. And then one of the boys, theleast likely to have courage to propose it, piped out:

  "Let's give her three"--pointing to the hostess.

  How pleased the poor invalid was, and how she beamed at them all! And whenDoctor Fisher saw that, he was so well satisfied that he shook hands withthem all quite around the circle.

  "Now I must
go. I'll look in again on your boy in an hour. Madam"--to Mrs.Keep. "Meantime, I'd stay over here, for I've sent for a nurse from thehospital; he must be kept quiet a spell. Good-day," and he was off.

  "Now, boys"--there was a pretty pink spot in either cheek, as Mrs. Sterlingturned to them--"do you know, I've thought of a plan by which you might dosomething for Lawrence?"

  "What--oh, what?" They crowded up to her sofa. Gibson, from the doorwaywhere she had retreated, to be within call, looked a little anxious, butcatching a glance from her mistress, smoothed out her face again.

  "What is your plan?" asked Curtis. It really seemed as if the boys had beenaccustomed to gather in that room, by the way in which they now crowded upas comrades entering into anything that might be proposed.

  "You know that before long Lawrence will be able to see you, we hope,"began Mrs. Sterling, in her cheeriest way. "Gibson, push up that pillow alittle more."

  "Oh, I will," cried Curtis, springing forward.

  Gibson, in great trepidation at any one performing the office for hermistress, started to do it, but Curtis was already most gallantly, if atrifle awkwardly, pushing up the pillow, giving it a rousing thump that goton the nerves of the maid.

  "You should have waited for me," she said tartly.

  "Never mind; that is all right." Mrs. Sterling smiled up at him where hestood, the hot blood in his face, and his eyes downcast. "I'm very muchobliged to you, Curtis. I guess you are accustomed to do it for yourmother," she said encouragingly.

  "I do--I am," he said incoherently, beginning to feel better. It was onlyGibson who was cross, he reflected; Mrs. Sterling herself was as nice asshe could be.

  "Well now, if I were you," said Mrs. Sterling, turning on her pillow to geta good look at them all, "I'd form a committee, a comfort committee, tothink up things that will interest Lawrence. And by and by the doctor isgoing to let you go to see him, and----"

  "What things?" The small boy who had proposed the cheers for Mrs. Sterling,now pushed to the front, so as to get a good look at her. "Tell me, please,what things?"

  "Well, you can cut out funny things from the magazines and papers for onething," said Mrs. Sterling, quite delighted at the success of her plan sofar, "and the nurse can read them to him."

  "I've got a lot of _Punch_ numbers," cried one boy.

  "And _Life,_" said another.

  "And oceans of magazines." They all shouted one thing, and another. Gibson,who by this time was tired of popping her head in and out, had withdrawn toa little room opening out of her mistress' apartment, and taken up hersewing, quite convinced that far from its being a cause for alarm,everything was going on finely.

  "Well now, just see how much pleasure that will give him," Mrs. Sterlingwas saying.

  "What else?" asked the small boy.

  "Then has any one of you any puzzles?" asked Mrs. Sterling, "or conundrums?Don't you think that is fine, to have something to think of beside dismalthings, when you lie in bed?"

  Curtis Park was just in his element here, for he dearly loved puzzles andconundrums. And presently Mrs. Sterling and he were busily talking overthis and that kind, and book, and collection, until finally the small boypulled the fringe of her pink crocheted shawl.

  "I want to know what else?"

  "Dear me!" Mrs. Sterling looked up quickly, to give a little laugh. Itwasn't loud, but so cheery and sweet that Gibson, in the little outer room,dropped her sewing in her lap. "Thank the Lord!" she said, and wiped hereyes.

  Frick, meanwhile, too excited to hear the doctor call them to come back,had darted out of the house, with no thought for the rain, but with onewild desire--to find Joel Pepper. And as he had a perfect faculty forsprinting, and cut through, with a dash, all the cross-streets, he soonfound himself for the second time that day at the King mansion.

  But this second time he was no more fortunate than the first. For althoughhe was willingly admitted to Mr. King's writing-room, it was to see thatgentleman look up and say with the most genial of smiles:

  "Ah, Frick, my boy, well, this time it's all right, isn't it, since I letJoel go down to you?"

  "Joel hasn't been with us," blurted out Frick, Then he leaned against thebig writing-table, speech all gone, for he began to feel terribly tired,and it had been nothing but one long disappointment all day.

  Old Mr. King laid down his pen and looked Frick all over.

  "Oh, no, he hasn't," declared Frick, shaking his head dismally; "we haven'tany of us seen him, and Larry Keep has been run over by Mr. MacIlvaine'stallyho, and most smashed up." Then he stopped suddenly, his cup of woebeing empty.

  "The first thing to do is to find Joel," said Mr. King to himself,anxiously. "The storm is almost over, to be sure"--glancing out of thewindow--"but where can he be?" He hurried across the room and touched theelectric button. "You haven't the least idea, Frick, where to look for him,eh?"

  "No, sir," said Frick miserably.

  Thomas popped his head in, to be given the order to have one of therainy-day carriages brought round. Just then, in ran Jasper. He had beencaught by the sudden shower over at Pickering Dodge's.

  "Father," he cried, his face glowing, "I've come home as soon as it slackedup a bit. Why, you are not going out?"--seeing the old gentleman beginningto don his mackintosh.

  "Yes, I am," said Mr. King grimly, "going to do just that very thing,Jasper."

  "Oh, let me, Father." Jasper sprang to his side eagerly, then looked in apuzzled way over to Frick.

  "It's Joel," said Frick, feeling that it was expected of him to furnish ananswer.

  "Joel?" cried Jasper, the color going out of his cheek.

  "Yes, Joel can't be found," said old Mr. King, speaking lightly to hide thedismay he really felt. "It's all right, of course; he's probably at one ofthe boys' houses; only as he was to join Frick, why, I'd prefer to look himup a bit. Well, there's Thomas"--glancing out of the window.

  "Oh, let me go for him," begged Jasper. "I can find him. Surely, you don'tneed to, Father; don't, pray, in all this rain."

  "I am going after Joel," declared his father, quite obstinately, "so say nomore about it, Jasper"--moving past him to the door. "Come, along, Frick,my boy, you might as well come, too."

  "Let me go, too," cried Jasper. "Oh, Father, can't I? I can at least help."He didn't say "take care of you," but he really felt anxious to the lastdegree.

  "Yes, yes," said his father, "of course you may come if you like." SoJasper, well pleased, rushed for his mackintosh, and all three got into thecarriage, and Thomas whirled them off in his best style.

  "It isn't really worth while to worry Mrs. Fisher," said old Mr. King whenwell on the way, "for we shall probably soon run across Joel as bright as abutton, and gay as a lark. Bless me, how this rain comes down!"