She knew then
that she must school herself to endure this thing again; that she
must never ask him to give up his life work, never be less
courageous than he, tough that courage would mean never a peaceful
moment to her when he was outside their own home.
Mr. Evans was a great comfort to her during those terrible weeks.
Hour after hour he would sit beside the injured man, never speaking
or moving, only watching quietly, while Lydia barely snatched the
necessary sleep a nurse must have, or attended to the essential
needs of the children, who, however, were jealously cared for by
faithful Milly. During those times the children never spoke except
in whispers, their rigid Indian-English training in self-effacement
and obedience being now of untold value.
But love and nursing and bravery all counted in the end, and one
day George Mansion walked downstairs, the doctor's arm on one side,
Lydia's on the other. He immediately asked for his pistol and his
dagger, cleaned the one, oiled and sharpened the other, and said,
"I'll be ready for them again in a month's time."
But while he lay injured his influential white friends and the
Government at Ottawa had not been idle. The lawless creature who
dealt those unmerited blows was tried, convicted and sent to
Kingston Penitentiary for seven years.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92