"
"I'm sorry it was consumption. But if they said they could patch you up,
it will be all right. It was a great deal for them to say."
Her duty was to overcome her grief and speak as if the doctors had told
him that there was nothing the matter that a little careful nursing would
fail to put right. William had faith in the warm weather, and she resolved
to put her trust in it. It was hard to see him wasting away before her
eyes and keep cheerful looks in her face and an accent of cheerfulness in
heir voice. The sunshine which had come at last seemed to suck up all the
life that was in him; he grew paler, and withered like a plant. Then
ill-luck seemed to have joined in the hunt; he could not "touch" a winner,
and their fortune drained away with his life. Favourites and outsiders, it
mattered not; whatever he backed lost; and Esther dreaded the cry
"Win-ner, all the win-ner!" He sat on the little balcony in the sunny
evenings looking down the back street for the boy to appear with the
"special." Then she had to go and fetch the paper. On the rare occasions
when he won, the spectacle was even more painful. He brightened up, his
thin arm and hand moved nervously, and he began to make projects and
indulge in hopes which she knew were vain.
She insisted, however, on his taking regularly the medicine they gave him
at the hospital, and this was difficult to do.
Pages:
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489