“Do?” exclaimed Aunt Ella. “I'll go myself. It's only two miles to Ketchley and I can ride back with the Doctor. I'll get Harry to help me harness the horse. Open the windows to give your boy plenty of air, and fan him.”
She took up the oil lamp that stood upon her writing table. “This is whale oil--a nauseous smelling compound. Rub his neck and chest well with it.”
Alice sought the nursery and followed Aunt Ella's directions. She was sitting by the crib watching her child's laboured breathing when her aunt returned.
“Harry is going on horseback. He knows the road to Ketchley and where the Doctor lives. Give him some more of the oil.”
It was administered and the child began to choke--he seemed to be strangling--then the phlegm that had impeded his breathing was thrown off, and his face resumed its natural colour. When the Doctor arrived an hour later, he was sleeping quietly. Aunt Ella told what they had done by way of emergency treatment.
“Evidently a very effective treatment,” said Dr. Parshefield. “I could not have done better myself.”
“It was so good of you, Harry,” said Alice. “I shall never forget your kindness.”
Then she threw her arms about Aunt Ella's neck.
“Oh, Auntie, if he had been taken from me, I could not have borne it.”
It had been arranged while Aunt Ella and Maude were at Ellersleigh that Florence and her husband should come to Fernborough Hall and make a visit before their departure for the United States. Owing to Harry's presence at the Hall it became necessary, when they arrived, to divulge the well-kept secret of Maude's unconventional marriage.
Aunt Ella managed the introduction with her usual straightforwardness, treating it as a matter of course. Florence and her husband were naturally surprised, but both of them liked Harry Merry. Had Florence been married at home, with the usual family friends and accessories, she would have looked with less tolerance on Maude's elopement. To be sure she had not eloped, but when she looked into her own heart she had to confess to herself that she would have married Reginald even if her parents had refused their consent. So, as the intent makes the offence, she forgave Maude for her escapade, and during their stay at the Hall they manifested more sisterly regard for each other than they had ever before shown.