PAID IN FULL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21214, 10 September 1940, Page 8

PAID IN FULL

= NEW SERIAL STORY =

by H. S. Sarbert

CHAPTER VI (Continued) Harry was going! His boy was dying! Oh, the agony of those few moments! The lather knew then how much his lad meant to him. What would life be without his boy, the lad of whom he had been so proud, who had been his constant companion? “Oh, God, don't let this thing happen! Don’t let my boy die! Don t take him from me!” The words came beseechingly from his agonised lips. Then he moved away, for Hilda, sitting quietly at the foot of the bed. had come forward and was bending over Harry. “I’ll get the doctor, shall I?” the father muttered. “No, I don't think so ” “You mean—it’s too iate?” She shook her head. “1 mean that it may not be necessary,” she replied. “I’m going to give him an injection.” Quietly, methodically, she went about her work. There was another period of struggling from the patient, but Hilda shook her head again when the father would have interfered. “Leave him to me,” she said quietly; and firmly but gently she put Harry back on the pillows. A quarter of an hour passed—half an hour. The feverish colour gradually faded from the boy’s cheeks, and he breathed more naturally. To David it seemed that he was scarcely breathing at all, but- Hilda knew different. She beckoned the father across to her. “The crisis has passed,” she whispered, “and it has been in his favour. Your son will go on nicely now.” “You mean that? You mean that he will live—get better?” Hilda inclined her head. “I’m not a doctor, of course,” she replied, “But I’ve had some experience of these things, Mr Preston. The boy was in danger for a while, but he’s sleeping quite peacefully now. His temperature has already dropped, and his pulse is stronger. We will go on doing our utmost, of course, and he will need a lot of care and attention for the next week or two; but I think that your prayer is going to be answered, that your boy is going to live!” The father reached out and took the nurse’s hand in both his own.

“I shan’t forget what you have done,” he said simply. “I haven’t done much, my friend. Just my duty as a nurse, that’s all.” “Ay, but you’ve done it well— and your heart was with us all the time. I was watching you. I could see your lips moving; and I know that you were echoing my prayer.” Hilda did not reply to this, but it was perfectly true. She had echoed his prayer. It had seemed a dreadful thing to her to watch this fine, strong man in so much agony of mind. She had realised how much his son meant to him—a son who was perhaps unworthy of such love; but who had it nevertheless. And a fine-looking boy, too—a boy who might be capable of great things in the future! When the doctor came in the next morning he was to confirm what the nurse had said. The crisis was passed. The patient had turned the corner. “I don’t even think that it will be necessary to go to the expense of getting a consultant down from London to see him, Mr Preston,”* he stated.

“You mustn’t hesitate about that, doctor, if you are in the least doubt,” David replied quickly. “Whatever the expense, there must be only the best for my boy. It’s not that I haven't got every confidence in you, sir—l think you’ve done wonderfully. I can see for myself the improvement in him. But he’s young, and he’s got all his life in front of him. He’s a fine lad—a lad with a fine brain, that’s what I mean—and if there is the least doubt about things, why I’d sell everything I have so that Harry should have the best.” Dr. Dover took David’s hand and wrung it sympathetically. “My dear fellow, I’m quite sure of that,” he said. “And if I thought it necessary that another man should be called in, I wouldn’t have the slightest hesitation in telling you. But I don’t think it will be necessary. The patient will go on very nicely now. Mind, not the slightest excitement for the next week or two. You fully understand that? He must be kept just as calm as can be. But if that instruction is followed out, then I think at the end of a fortnight, or three weeks at the most, Mr Harry Preston will be little the worse for his terrible experience. He seems to have the benefit of remarkably fine nursing. I have been talking to Miss Holden, and she has promised to stay on until the patient is convalescent. That is a great help, for she is just the kind ot assistant I need.” “She’s a fine woman,” David said. “I know that only too well.” In the circumstances, old John Winn could not refuse the shelter of his home for the invalid. It might have been possible to have removed Harry to the hospital after a day or two; but naturally his father preferred to keep him near—and, anyway, Viola would not hear of any change being made. “I’m glad he’s getting better, for your sake, David,” old John said, “but he’s getting more than he deserves, in having two fine women to look after him. And, mind you, I’m saying that that little lass of mine is a fine girl ” “Don’t I know it, John? You don’t have to tell me that,” David replied. “You don’t appreciate her more than I do”

“Then it’s a pity that boy of yours doesn’t appreciate her more!” the old man flung back. “What about the girl who was the cause of all this trouble? She’s up wi’ the grand folk at the Hall, I understand, and she hasn’t been nigh him yet. And she’s supposed to be in love with him! In love! A fine sort o’ love that is—and my own little lass breaking her heart for the young scamp, who has never been worthy of her, and never will be. It makes me feel bitter, David Preston, so I’m telling ye—main bitter it makes me feel that your son can cast aside a jewel of great price like my little Viola.” David pressed the other man’s hand. (To be continued daily)