The Princess and Joe Potter Part 28

"Don't do it, Joseph! Don't you dare to do it; it might be as much as your life is worth to put cold water on that bruised flesh! It won't be many minutes before we shall have plenty of the proper temperature."

"Of course I'll do jest as you say, aunt Dorcas; but I've been hurt worse'n this a good many times, an' never had any one to touch me up the same's you seem bound on doin'."

"If you have been foolhardy in the past, it is no reason why you should run unnecessary risks now," the little woman said, severely, and Joe made no further attempt to dissuade her from her purpose.

When the water was sufficiently warm, aunt Dorcas set about her self-appointed task, pa.s.sing the moist sponge over Joe's face with an exceedingly light touch, as if afraid of causing him pain, and he said, with a stifled laugh:

"You needn't be afraid of hurtin' me, aunt Dorcas. I can stand a good deal more'n that without yippin'. I'd been willin' to got it twice as bad, if we could have held on to that duffer."

"You shouldn't harbour revengeful thoughts, Joseph. I am truly glad he made his escape."

"If you treat burglars in that way, this place will be overrun with them before next winter."

"Of course I don't like the idea of having strange men prowling around the house in the night; but there is nothing here for them to steal, and I am certain they couldn't be wicked enough to hurt a poor old woman like me. Instead of harbouring revengeful thoughts, we should endeavour to do good to those who would injure us, remembering the words spoken on the Mount, 'That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'"

"If a feller went 'round doin' anything like that, I reckon he'd soon be in worse shape than I am. Do you mean, aunt Dorcas, that I ought to have stood still an' let that burglar have fun with me?"

"I can't think it was intended we should take the words literally; but they certainly were meant that we should be forgiving,--that we should love our enemies so heartily as to lead them from their evil ways. The man who beat you so cruelly will never be brought into a better life by harsh words. Now, I am going to put some arnica on these bruises; it will hurt, but you must try to bear the pain manfully."

"Don't be afraid of me, aunt Dorcas. You couldn't do anything that would make me yip."

The little woman treated Joe's wounds with such simple remedies as she had near at hand, and then proceeded to bandage his head, until but little more than his eyes and mouth could be seen, striving, meanwhile, to show him how much better the world would be for his having lived in it, if he would govern himself strictly by the Golden Rule.

During all the while she was putting the many bandages in place, Joe was saying to himself that now was come the time when he should make that confession he had decided upon, and, although aunt Dorcas had said so much concerning the blessedness of forgiving those who have done us an injury, he did not believe she would so far carry her precepts into practice as to be willing to shelter one who appeared to be as great a criminal as himself.

"I believe, Joseph, I have done all that is possible to-night," the little woman finally said, as she fastened in place the last bandage.

"You are not to get up in the morning until after I have made certain you are in no danger of a fever. Now, go to your room, and if you think George may disturb you, I'll put him in the spare chamber."

"Wait a minute, aunt Dorcas; I want to tell you something," and Joe laid his hand on the little woman's arm to prevent her from rising. "You never knew why Plums an' I left New York to come out here where there isn't a chance to earn a living."

"I understood from something you said, Joseph, that there was a reason for your leaving home suddenly; but I can't believe, my boy, you have done anything wrong."

"An' I haven't, aunt Dorcas; as true as I live, I haven't, though everybody, even Plums, thinks I've been cuttin' a terrible swath! Of course, when that advertis.e.m.e.nt come out, I had to run away, else they'd carried me to jail--"

"To jail?" aunt Dorcas repeated, in horror. "What advertis.e.m.e.nt do you mean, Joseph?"

"The one that was in the paper 'bout payin' anybody who'd tell where I was."

"But who wanted to know where you were?"

"The lawyers, of course,--the fellers that advertised."

"Why did they want to find you?" aunt Dorcas asked, in perplexity.

"That's what knocks me silly, 'cause I don't know a thing about it, any more'n you do."

"Did you say the advertis.e.m.e.nt knocked you silly, Joseph?" and the little woman now looked thoroughly bewildered.

"Course it did, an' it would have paralysed 'most anybody that didn't know what they'd been about."

"Joseph, I'm afraid I don't understand you. It is a printed advertis.e.m.e.nt you are telling me about, isn't it?"

"Of course. I saw the first one in the _Herald_, an'--"

"I thought you said some one had dealt you a blow. Tell me what there was in the advertis.e.m.e.nt."

Joe repeated the words almost verbatim, and then told aunt Dorcas all the details of the flight, up to the moment they arrived at her home.

Regarding the threats made by the amateur detective he remained silent, because of the promise to Dan.

"There must be some terrible mistake about it all, Joseph. If you haven't committed a crime, and I feel certain you couldn't have done such a thing, then it is some other boy these lawyers are hunting for."

"There's no such good luck as that, aunt Dorcas. I don't believe there's another feller in town named Joseph Potter, who's been sellin'

newspapers an' then went into the fruit business. You see, that's me to a dot, an' now Plums an' Dan are in the sc.r.a.pe because they helped me away. Just as likely as not Dan will come here to-morrow to ask you to take him in, too, an' I've made up my mind that the princess an' I have got to leave. We're goin' away about noon, aunt Dorcas, an' some time I'll be back to pay you for bein' so good to us."

The little woman looked at Joe for an instant, as if not understanding what he had said, and repeated:

"Going away?"

"Yes, aunt Dorcas, we've got to. Even if you was willin' we should stay, after what I've told you, I wouldn't agree to hang 'round, livin' on you, while there are two other fellers doin' the same thing."

Aunt Dorcas gazed at Joe steadily during several seconds, and then said, in a decided tone:

"I don't understand what you have tried to tell me; but it is certain, Joseph Potter, that you sha'n't leave my house while you are wounded so seriously."

"I ain't wounded, aunt Dorcas, an' I'm as well able to go this minute as I was when I came."

"It doesn't make any difference whether you are or not. I sha'n't allow you to step your foot off of these premises until I know more about this affair. It is all a mistake from beginning to end; there can be no question of that, and I'll get at the bottom of it before we are very much older. Now go straight to bed, and mind what I told you about getting up in the morning."

Aunt Dorcas pulled the bandages apart sufficiently to admit of her kissing Joe on the lips, and then, putting the lamp in his hand, she led him to the stairway.

"You're an awful good woman, aunt Dorcas, an' some day I'll be able to do more than tell you so."

"Good night, my boy. Put this matter entirely out of your mind and go to sleep."

When Joe gained the chamber once more, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.

The confession which caused him so much anxiety had been made, and, instead of reproaching him for having come to her home, aunt Dorcas was the same kindly, Christianlike woman as when he first saw her.

Master Plummer, who had slept peacefully during all the adventures of the night, was disturbed by the light of the lamp, as it shone full in his face, and opening his eyes, he said, petulantly:

"What are you doin'--" He ceased speaking suddenly, as he saw his friend's bandaged face, and cried, in something very like alarm, "Wha--wha--what's happened to you?"

"There was a burglar in the house, an' I tackled him."

This was sufficient to bring Master Plummer to a sitting posture at once, and he demanded to be told all the particulars.

Joe began to comply with his friend's request, but was interrupted by the voice of aunt Dorcas from the room below.