The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea Part 5

Tommy, who had raised her head from the water a short distance from where the guardian was paddling, uttered a scream.

"There thhe ith!" she cried; "there she ith! Right down there. Come in a hurry. She ith under the car. I could thee her plainly. Oh, I'm tho thcared!" Tommy began paddling for the sh.o.r.e with all speed.

Miss Elting did not answer. Instead, she took a long dive. About this time Jane came up. Hazel, who was making for the spot where the guardian had disappeared, pointed to it. Jane understood. It took her but a few seconds to reach the center of the rippling circle left by the guardian; then Crazy Jane's feet kicked the air a couple of times.

She had taken an almost perpendicular dive. But it seemed that she had not been under water more than a second or two when she lunged to the surface. A few feet from her Miss Elting appeared, threw herself over on her back and lay gasping for breath.

"She'th got her!" screamed Tommy. "Harriet ith dead!"

Gazing out over the pond she saw Jane swimming swiftly toward sh.o.r.e, dragging the apparently lifeless body of Harriet Burrell. Miss Elting and Hazel were closing up on Jane rapidly. Reaching her side a moment later, the guardian took one of Harriet's arms and a.s.sisted in towing her in.

Tommy remembered afterward having been fascinated by the expressions in their faces. She stared and stared. The faces of the two women were white and haggard. Still farther back she saw only Hazel's eyes. They were so large that Tommy was scarcely able to credit their belonging to Hazel. Had Tommy known it, her own face was more pale and haggard at that moment than those of her companions.

Jane dragged Harriet ash.o.r.e; then Miss Elting grasped the unconscious girl almost roughly, flung her over on her stomach and began applying "first aid to the drowned."

"Ith--ith she dead?" gasped Tommy.

"She's drowned, darlin'," answered Crazy Jane McCarthy abruptly.

CHAPTER IV

A QUESTION OF POLITICS

"Lay her over on her back!"

Jane obeyed Miss Elting's command promptly. The guardian, using her wet handkerchief, cleared Harriet's mouth by keeping the tongue down to admit the air.

"Work her arms back and forth. We must set up artificial respiration,"

she directed.

Jane, without any apparent excitement, began a steady movement of the patient's arms, bringing them together above the head, then down to the sides. She continued this as steadily as if she were not face to face with a great tragedy. She did not yet know whether or not it were a tragedy; but, if appearances went for anything, it was. In the meantime the guardian had glanced over her shoulder at the pond. She saw the trunk slowly drifting in.

"Get it and open it, Hazel," she commanded.

"I haven't a key."

"Break it open with a stone. Never mind a key."

Hazel ran out into the water until she was up to her neck, then she swam out. Reaching the floating trunk, she got behind it and began pushing it sh.o.r.eward. Margery and Tommy stood watching the proceedings in speechless horror. Hazel got the trunk ash.o.r.e, when, following the guardian's directions, she broke the lock open with a stone.

"It's open," she cried.

"Are the things inside very wet?"

"No; they are just as dry as they can be."

"Good. Are Harriet's clothes there?"

"I think so. Shall I take them out?"

"Not just yet. I will tell you if they are needed."

Hazel understood what was in the mind of the guardian. Were Harriet Burrell not to recover, the dry clothing would not be needed.

Nevertheless, Hazel piled the contents of the trunk on the ground, then replaced it, leaving Harriet's belongings at the top of the pile, so that they would be ready at hand in case of need. In the meantime Crazy Jane and Miss Elting persisted in their efforts to resuscitate the unconscious girl. Though no sign of returning life rewarded their labor, they continued without a second's halting. Half an hour had pa.s.sed. That was lengthened to an hour, then suddenly Jane stopped, leaned over and peered into the pale face of Harriet.

"I see a little color returning!" she cried in a shrill voice.

"Hurrah! Harriet's alive!"

"You don't thay?" exclaimed Tommy.

"Keep her arms going! Don't stop for a single second," commanded Miss Elting. "Hazel, take off Harriet's shoes. Beat the bottoms of her feet. Oh, if we had something warm to put her in. Margery, you get out Harriet's clothing from the trunk."

"I--I can't," answered Buster in a weak voice.

"Buthter ith too nervouth. I'll get them," offered Tommy. She did, too. Now that she had something to do, she went about it as calmly as though she had had no previous fear. "Are thethe what you want, Mith Elting?" she asked.

"Yes; bring them here. She is breathing. Faster, Jane, faster!"

"Don't pull her armth out by the roootth," warned Tommy. The guardian made no reply. It was a critical moment and Harriet Burrell's life hung on a very slender thread. Return to consciousness was so slow as to seem like no recovery at all. The spot of red that had appeared in either cheek faded and disappeared. Miss Elting's heart sank when she noted the change in the face of the unconscious girl. Jane saw it, too, but made no comment.

Tommy, having taken the clothes from the trunk, now very methodically piled them up near at hand, so that the guardian might reach them without shifting her position materially. Then the little girl stood with hands clasped before her, her eyes squinting, her face twisted into what Jane afterward said was a really hard knot.

Two tiny spots of red once more appeared in each cheek of Harriet's white face.

"Shall I move her arms faster?" asked Jane.

Miss Elting shook her head. "Keep on as you are. I don't quite understand, but she is alive. Of that I am positive."

For fully fifteen minutes after that the two young women worked in silence. They noted joyfully that the tiny spots of color in Harriet's cheeks were growing. The spots were now as large as a twenty-five-cent piece. Miss Elting motioned for Jane to cease the arm movements, then she laid an ear over Harriet's heart.

"Keep it up," she cried, straightening suddenly. "We are going to save her." Margery, who had drawn slowly near, turned abruptly, walked away and sat down heavily. Jane's under lip trembled ever so little, but she showed no other sign of emotion, and methodically continued at her work.

"Now, as soon as we can get the breath of life into her body, we must strip off those wet clothes and bundle her into something dry. We shall be taking a great chance in undressing her in the open air, but the fact that Harriet is in such splendid condition should go a long way toward pulling her through. I wish we had a blanket to wrap her in. However, we shall have to do with what we have."

Jane kept steadily at her work, her eyes fixed on the face of the patient. She made no reply to Miss Elting's words. Tommy, however, tilted her head to one side reflectively. Then she turned it ever so little, regarding the broken trunk as if trying to make up her mind whether or not she should hold it responsible for the disaster. After a few moments of staring at the trunk she sidled over to it, and, stooping down, began rummaging through its contents. From the trunk she finally drew forth a long flannel nightgown. This she carried over and gravely spread out on the pile of clothing that she had previously placed near Miss Elting. The guardian's eyes lighted appreciatively.

"Thank you, dear. That is splendid," she said, flashing a smile at Tommy. "You are very resourceful. I am proud of you."

"You're welcome," answered Grace with a grimace. "Ith there anything elthe that I can do?"

Miss Elting shook her head. The smile had left her face; all her faculties were again centered on the work in hand. Shortly after that the two workers were gratified to note a quiver of the eyelids of the patient. This was followed by a slight rising and falling of the chest, and a few moments later Harriet Burrell opened her eyes, closed them wearily and turned over on her face. Crazy Jane promptly turned her on her back, and none too gently at that.

"Plea--se let me alone. I'm all right," murmured Harriet.

"Help me carry her out yonder under the trees," ordered the guardian.