CHAPTER XXIV
MOTE IN THE EYE, AND HOW IT WAS REMOVED--CONCH TRUMPET ANDSIGNALS--TRAMP--ALARM
The next morning, while planning together the employments of the day,Frank came in, holding his hand over his eye, having had a grain of sandthrown into it by an unfortunate twitch of Dora's tail. It pained himexcessively, and he found it almost impossible to keep from crying.Mary ran quickly and brought a basin, for the purpose of his washing itout. He however became frightened at finding his mouth and noseimmersed, and was near being strangled in the attempt. It would havebeen better for so young a person, if Mary had made him hold back hishead, and dropped the water under the uplifted lid. She next proposedto remove it by introducing the smooth head of a large needle to thepainful spot, and moving the mote away; but neither would Frank allowthis. Robert then took the matter in hand, and having in vain blown andrubbed in various ways, endeavoured to remove the substance by drawingthe irritated lid over the other, in such a way as to make the lash ofone a sort of wiper to the other. But neither did this succeed. Bythis time the eye had become much inflamed, and Frank began to whimper.Harold asked him to bear it for a minute longer, and he would try oldTorgah's plan. With a black filament of moss, the best substitute hecould devise for a horse hair, he made a little loop, which he insertedunder the uplifted lid, so as to enclose the foreign substance; thenletting the lid fall, he drew out the loop, and within it the grain ofsand. Robert observed that an almost infallible remedy is to bandagethe eye and take a nap; and Mary added, that it would be still morecertain if a flaxseed were put into the eye before going to sleep.Frank, however, needed no further treatment; he bathed his eye with coldwater, wore a bandage for an hour, and then was as well as ever.
During the conversation that preceded this incident, Harold had broughtout a hammer and large nail, and now occupied himself with making asmooth hole in the small end of one of the conches. Having succeeded,he put the conch to his lips, and after several trials brought from it aloud clear note like that of a bugle. Robert also, finding that thesound came easily, called aloud, "Come here, sister, let us teach youhow to blow a trumpet."
It was not until after several attempts that Mary acquired the art.Frank was much amused to see how she twisted and screwed her mouth tomake it fit the hole; and though he said nothing at the time, Harold hadafterwards reason to remember a lurking expression of sly humour dancingabout the corners of his mouth and eyes.
"Now, cousin," said Harold, when Mary had succeeded in bringing out thenotes with sufficient clearness, "if ever you wish to call us home whenwe are within a mile of you at night, or half a mile during the day, youhave only to use this trumpet. For an ordinary call, sound a long loudblast, but for _an alarm_, if there should be such a thing, sound twolong blasts, with the interval of a second. When you wish to call forFrank, sound a short blast, for Robert two, and for me three.
In his different strolls through the forest, Harold had observed thatthe wild turkeys frequented certain oaks, whose acorns were small andsweet. It was part of his plan to capture a number of these birds in atrap, and to keep them on hand as poultry, to be killed at pleasure. Forthis purpose, it was necessary that the spot where the trap was to beset should first be baited. He therefore proposed to Robert to spendpart of the forenoon in selecting and baiting several places; and withthis intention they left home, having their pockets filled with corn andpeas. It did not require long to select half a dozen such places,within a moderate distance of the tent, to bait, and afterwards to markthem so that they could be found.
Having completed this work, they were returning to the tent, when theyheard afar off the sound of the conch. It was indistinct and irregularat first, as if Mary had not been able to adjust her mouth properly tothe hole; but presently a note came to them so clear and emphatic, thatMum pricked up his ears, and trotted briskly on; and after a second'spause came another long blast. "Harold! Harold!" Robert said in aquick and tremulous tone, "that is an alarm! I wonder what can be thematter. Now there are two short blasts; they are for me; and now threefor you. Come, let us hurry. Something terrible must have happened toFrank or to Sam."
They quickened their pace to a run, and were bursting through the bushesand briers, when they again heard the two long blasts of alarm, followedby the short ones, that called for each of them. They were seriouslydisturbed, and continued their efforts until they came near enough tosee Mary walking about very composedly, and Frank sitting, not far fromthe tent, with the conch lying at his feet. These signs of tranquillityso far relieved their anxiety, that they slackened their pace to amoderate walk, but their faces were red, and their breath short fromexertion. They began to hope that the alarm was on account of _good_news instead of bad--perhaps the sight of a vessel on the coast. Robertwas trembling with excitement. A loud halloo roused the attention ofFrank, and springing lightly to his feet he ran to meet them.
"What is the matter?" asked Robert; but either Frank did not hear, ordid not choose to reply. He came up with a merry laugh, talking so fastand loud, as to drown all the questions.
"Ha! ha!" said he, "I thought I could bring you! That was loud andstrong, wasn't it?"
"You!" Robert inquired. "What do you mean? Did you blow the conch?"
"That I did," he replied; "I blew just as cousin Harold said we must, tobring you all home."
"But, Frank," remonstrated Harold, "the conch sounded an alarm. Itsaid, Something is the matter. Now what was the matter?"
"O, not much," Frank answered, "only I was getting hungry, and thoughtit was time for you all to come back. That was something, wasn't it?"
"You wicked fellow!" said Robert, provoked out of all patience, to thinkof their long run. "You have put us to a great deal of trouble.Sister, how came you to let him frighten us so?"
"Really, I could not help it," she replied. "When I went to the springa little while since, he excused himself from going by saying that hefelt tired; but no sooner had I passed below the bluff, than I heard thesound of the conch. I supposed at first it must be Sam, who had becomesuddenly worse, and was blowing for you to return; so I filled my bucketonly half full, and hurried home; when I ascended the bluff I saw thelittle monkey, with the conch in his hand, blowing away with all hismight."
"And didn't it go well?" asked Frank.
The young wag looked so innocent of every intent except fun, and seemedwithal to think his trick so clever, that in spite of their discomfort,the boys laughed heartily at the consternation he had produced, and atthe half comic, half tragic expression which his face assumed onlearning the consequences of his waggery. They gave him a seriouslecture, however, upon the subject, and told him that hereafter he mustnot interfere with the signals. But as he seemed to have such anuncommon aptitude for trumpeting, Harold promised to prepare him a conchfor his own use, on condition that he played them no more tricks. Frankwas delighted at this, and taking up the horn, blew, as he said, "allsorts of crooked ways," to show what he could do. The boys wereastonished. Frank was the most skilful trumpeter of the company; and onbeing questioned how he acquired the art, replied, that when he and hismother had gone on a visit to one of her friends, during the precedingsummer, he and a negro boy used to go after the cows every evening, andblow horns for their amusement.