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Page 59
"It wouldn't matter if the ladder WAS up," said Molly, "for we
couldn't go out in this pouring rain, and we might get struck by
lightning, too."
"Under a tree is the very worst place to be in a thunderstorm,"
said Stella, lifting her white, little face, and staring at the
girls with big, scared eyes.
Just then another terrible crash and flash made them all grasp
each other again, and then, without further restraint, they all
cried together.
The storm increased. The winds simply raged, and though the old
maple-trees were too sturdy to shake much, yet the little house
swayed some, and all about could be heard the cracking and
snapping of branches.
"I think--" began Molly, but even as she spoke there came the
loudest crash of all. It was the splitting of the heavens, and
with it came a fierce, sudden flash of flame that blinded them
all.
The girls fell apart from one another through the mere shock, and
when Molly and Midge dazedly opened their eyes, they saw Stella
crumpled in a little heap on the floor.
CHAPTER XVI
FIRECRACKERS
"Is she dead?" screamed Molly. "Oh, Marjorie, is she dead?"
"I don't know," said Marjorie, whose face was almost as white as
Stella's, as she leaned over the unconscious little girl.
Although they tried, they couldn't quite manage to lift Stella up
on the couch, so Marjorie sat down on the floor and took the poor
child's head on her knee, while Molly ran for water.
"I'm sure it's right to douse people with water when they faint,"
said Molly, as she sprinkled Stella's face liberally; "and she is
only in a faint, isn't she, Marjorie? Because if people are really
struck by lightning they burn up, don't they, Marjorie?"
While she talked, Molly was excitedly pouring water promiscuously
over Stella, until the child looked as if she had been out in the
storm.
Marjorie was patting Stella's cheek and rubbing her hands, but it
all seemed of no avail; and, though Stella was breathing softly,
they could not restore her to consciousness.
"It's dreadful," said Marjorie, turning to Molly with a look of
utter despair, "and we MUST do something! It isn't RIGHT for us
two little girls to try to take care of Stella. We MUST get
Grandma here, somehow."
"But how CAN we?" said Molly. "The ladder is down, you know, and
we can't possibly get down from the house. I'd try to jump, but
it's fifteen feet, and I'd be sure to break some bones, and we'd
be worse off than ever."
The two girls were too frightened to cry; they were simply
appalled by the awful situation and at their wits' end to know
what to do.
"It was bad enough," wailed Marjorie, "when we were all wide awake
and could be frightened together; but with Stella asleep, or
whatever she is, it's perfectly horrible."
"She isn't asleep," said Molly, scrutinizing the pale little face,
"but she's stunned with the shock, and I'm sure I don't know what
to do. We ought to have smelling-salts, or something, to bring her
to."
"We ought to have somebody that knows something to look after her.
Molly, we MUST get Grandma here. I believe I'll try to jump
myself, but I suppose I'd just sprain my ankle and lie there in
the storm till I was all washed away. What CAN we do?"
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