Involuntarily they tried to catch Patricia, whose body struck them
sharply, felling them to the ground, and then bounded against the
hedge and back to the pavement.
When, half dazed, they scrambled to their feet, the girl lay
motionless before them, a stream of red blood welling from a deep cut
in her forhead, her eyes closed as if in sleep.
A moment more and the boy was kneeling beside her, striving to stay
the bleeding with his handkerchief.
"Do something! For God's sake try to do something," he wailed,
piteously. "Can't you see she's killed herself to save me?"
Uncle John knelt down and took the still form in his arms.
"Quiet, my lad," he said. "She isn't dead. Get Nora, and fetch the
doctor as soon as you can."
The boy was gone instantly, his agony relieved by the chance of
action, and followed by the lawyer, Uncle John carried his niece to
the rose chamber and laid her upon her white bed.
Misery met them, then, and following her came Louise and Beth, full of
horror and pity for the victim of the dreadful accident.
Jane Merrick had promptly recovered consciousness, for fainting spells
were foreign to her nature.
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