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Page 7
His aunt promised her assistance, and he ran off, well pleased, to tell
his friends of their new ally. Rikli thought her chance had come now,
but before she could begin her story Emma rushed in, crying, almost out
of breath:--
"Aunty! aunty! They are all going to gather strawberries--a lot of boys
and girls--may I go too? Say 'yes' quick, for I can't get at mamma and
they won't wait."
"Strawberries to-day, violets yesterday, and blueberries to-morrow;
always something or other; that is the way with you, Emma. Well, go, but
do not stay out too late."
"I want to go too," cried Rikli, and started after her sister.
But Emma, clearing the steps in two jumps, called back:--
"No, you can't go into the woods; there are red snails there and beetles
and--"
But Rikli did not wait to hear more; she was reminded of the frog, and
turned back to tell her story, when she saw Fred coming in with his book
under his arm. He seated himself by his aunt and opened the book.
"How nice it is to find you, aunty," he began, "Mamma couldn't wait to
hear the end of this description; and it was a pity, for I had found
such a perfect specimen. But I'll find another to-morrow to show you."
"No! no!" cried Rikli. "Say 'no,' aunty; it will jump right into your
face, and it has yellow eyes like a dragon's."
Fred had doubled up his fist as if he had something in it, and now he
suddenly opened it into his sister's face. She sprang back with a cry,
and away through the door.
"Now we can have a little peace," said Fred, well pleased at the success
of his trick; and he began to read.
"'The green or water-frog, _esculenta_'--"
At this moment the house-door was opened, and they heard footsteps and
voices in the passage-way.
"Come," said his aunt, "let us look out at the little sick girl who is
going away; then we will come back to the frog."
They went to the window and looked out. A sad expression came into the
good aunt's face as she saw the little girl lifted into the carriage.
"How sick and pale she looks, poor little thing! or, rather, poor
sorrowful mother!" she said, as her eyes fell on the face of the lady
who was at this moment pressing Mrs. Stein's hand, while tears were
running, unheeded, down her cheeks.
The carriage rolled away. Fred returned to his book; but he had no
chance to go on with the description of the frog, for his mother,
greatly excited over the sight of the suffering child and the anxious
mother, came to talk it over with her sister, with whom she consulted
about everything that took place in the family, so that the household
would have been as much at a loss without "aunty" as without father or
mother. Fred saw that this was not his opportunity; so, exacting a
promise from his aunt that she would give him a chance with his frog
just before bed-time, he took himself off.
Then Mrs. Stein told her sister all about her painful interview with
Mrs. Stanhope. The child, she said, was so pale and transparent-looking
that she seemed already to belong more to heaven than to earth; but the
mother would not believe it, and had eagerly explained, in a burst of
tears, that it was only the fatigue of the journey which made Nora look
so ill, and that she was sure that the mountain air would soon restore
her darling to health. Was she trying to deceive herself?
While Mrs. Stein was speaking, the sound of a horse's hoofs was heard,
and she hurried out to meet her husband and to tell him of Mrs.
Stanhope's arrival. The doctor hastened away on foot to pay a visit to
his new patient. Not until late in the evening did he return; long after
the children were safe in their beds. Fred, by the way, had persevered
till he had secured his aunt long enough to give her a thorough account
of the appearance of the "green or water-frog." It had been no easy
task, for each of the children had some special need of her that
evening, and his mother, too; and even Kathri asked for "one word"; but
Fred was not to be cheated, and he came out triumphant at last.
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