DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22217#0030
i8
BILL Y'S BITE.
and looked into her pinched face and brilliant eyes, and
listened to her quick, gasping breath, he merely gave his head
a slight shake, and knelt down by the bedside to take her thin
hand tenderly in his own. He had been very merry and chatty
with Billy on the way, but now he was grave and solemn, and
scarcely spoke a word.
" Will she be better soon ?" asked Billy at last, when the
silence had almost sickened him.
The student looked down on the white features of the sick
girl, and said softly—■
"Yes—very soon."
There was another painful silence, and then Kate dropped
off into slumber, with her hand resting trustfully in that of the
student. Then the gentleman softly disengaged his hand, and
motioned Billy out of the hole.
"Where's your father or mother?" he gravely asked, for the
room was empty.
" Not got any—mother's dead," said Billy. " Rodie looks
ifter us," and his hands and teeth clenched, as they generally
did now when Rodie was in his thoughts, or at his tongue's
end.
" Then I should like to see Rodie for a minute," said the
student with the same pitying look in his eyes, which Billy could
not understand at all. " Could you find him now?"
No, no, Billy could not do that; and did not know when
Rodie would be at home, or where he was likely to be found.
The student looked round the miserable hovel, and sighed and
shook his head, and then left. He had ordered no medicine,
he had said nothing about Kate, except that she was to be
better very soon, yet Billy felt a vague uneasiness and distrust.
The house seemed oppressively quiet, and Kate's slumber
unusually deep. What if she should sleep on and never wake ?
Billy crept into the hole again, and sat down on the floor
beside the bed to listen intently to every breath Kate drew,
holding her hand softly the while to make sure that she did
not slip away from him as she slept.
" Oh, if Rodie had only kicked me instead !" he thought for
the hundredth time. " A boy is more able to stand kicks, and
Rodie's so strong—he'd kick anybody right through the world,
whether there was a hole or not."
Late in the afternoon Rodie and the comical fiend came in
boisterous and gleeful to dinner. They had been unusually
successful in passing some bad florins, and had invested some
BILL Y'S BITE.
and looked into her pinched face and brilliant eyes, and
listened to her quick, gasping breath, he merely gave his head
a slight shake, and knelt down by the bedside to take her thin
hand tenderly in his own. He had been very merry and chatty
with Billy on the way, but now he was grave and solemn, and
scarcely spoke a word.
" Will she be better soon ?" asked Billy at last, when the
silence had almost sickened him.
The student looked down on the white features of the sick
girl, and said softly—■
"Yes—very soon."
There was another painful silence, and then Kate dropped
off into slumber, with her hand resting trustfully in that of the
student. Then the gentleman softly disengaged his hand, and
motioned Billy out of the hole.
"Where's your father or mother?" he gravely asked, for the
room was empty.
" Not got any—mother's dead," said Billy. " Rodie looks
ifter us," and his hands and teeth clenched, as they generally
did now when Rodie was in his thoughts, or at his tongue's
end.
" Then I should like to see Rodie for a minute," said the
student with the same pitying look in his eyes, which Billy could
not understand at all. " Could you find him now?"
No, no, Billy could not do that; and did not know when
Rodie would be at home, or where he was likely to be found.
The student looked round the miserable hovel, and sighed and
shook his head, and then left. He had ordered no medicine,
he had said nothing about Kate, except that she was to be
better very soon, yet Billy felt a vague uneasiness and distrust.
The house seemed oppressively quiet, and Kate's slumber
unusually deep. What if she should sleep on and never wake ?
Billy crept into the hole again, and sat down on the floor
beside the bed to listen intently to every breath Kate drew,
holding her hand softly the while to make sure that she did
not slip away from him as she slept.
" Oh, if Rodie had only kicked me instead !" he thought for
the hundredth time. " A boy is more able to stand kicks, and
Rodie's so strong—he'd kick anybody right through the world,
whether there was a hole or not."
Late in the afternoon Rodie and the comical fiend came in
boisterous and gleeful to dinner. They had been unusually
successful in passing some bad florins, and had invested some