A Great Emergency and Other Tales | Page 3

this seemed quite feasible to us.
Henrietta had dressed and undressed lots of dolls, and I pictured myself
filling a hot-water bottle at the kitchen boiler with an air of
responsibility that should scare all lighter-minded folk. But the
directions for "restoring breathing" troubled our sincere desire to learn;
and this even though Henrietta practised for weeks afterwards upon me.
I represented the drowned man, and she drew my arms above my head
for "inspiration," and counted "one, two;" and doubled them and drove
them back for "_expiration_;" but it tickled, and I laughed, and we

could not feel at all sure that it would have made the drowned man
breathe again.
Meanwhile Rupert went on with the course of lectures, and taught us
how to behave in the event of a fire in the house, an epidemic in the
neighbourhood, a bite from a mad dog, a chase by a mad bull, broken
limbs, runaway horses, a chimney on fire, or a young lady burning to
death. The lectures were not only delightful in themselves, but they
furnished us with a whole set of new games, for Henrietta and I
zealously practised every emergency as far as the nature of things
would allow. Covering our faces with wet cloths to keep off the smoke,
we crept on our hands and knees to rescue a fancy cripple from an
imaginary burning house, because of the current of air which Rupert
told us was to be found near the floor. We fastened Baby Cecil's left leg
to his right by pocket-handkerchiefs at the ankle, and above and below
the knee, pretending that it was broken, and must be kept steady till we
could convey him to the doctor. But for some unexplained reason Baby
Cecil took offence at this game, and I do not think he could have
howled and roared louder under the worst of real compound fractures.
We had done it so skilfully, that we were greatly disgusted by his
unaccommodating spirit, and his obstinate refusal to be put into the
litter we had made out of Henrietta's stilts and a railway rug. We put
the Scotch terrier in instead; but when one end of the litter gave way
and he fell out, we were not sorry that the emergency was a fancy one,
and that no broken limbs were really dependent upon our well-meant
efforts.
There was one thing about Rupert's lectures which disappointed me.
His emergencies were all things that happened in the daytime. Now I
should not have liked the others to know that I was ever afraid of
anything; but, really and truly, I was sometimes a little frightened--not
of breaking my leg, or a house on fire, or an apoplectic fit, or anything
of that sort, but--of things in the dark. Every half-holiday I hoped there
would be something about what to do with robbers or ghosts, but there
never was. I do not think there can have been any emergencies of that
kind in the yellow leather book.

On the whole, I fancy Rupert found us satisfactory pupils, for he never
did give up the lectures in a huff, though he sometimes threatened to do
so, when I asked stupid questions, or Henrietta argued a point.
CHAPTER II.
HENRIETTA--A FAMILY CHRONICLE--THE SCHOOL
MIMIC--MY FIRST FIGHT.
Henrietta often argued points, which made Rupert very angry. He said
that even if she were in the right, that had nothing to do with it, for girls
oughtn't to dispute or discuss. And then Henrietta argued that point too.
Rupert and Henrietta often squabbled, and always about the same sort
of thing. I am sure he would have been very kind to her if she would
have agreed with him, and done what he wanted. He often told me that
the gentlemen of our family had always been courteous to women, and
I think he would have done anything for Henrietta if it had not been
that she would do everything for herself.
When we wanted to vex her very much, we used to call her "Monkey,"
because we knew she liked to be like a boy. She persuaded Mother to
let her have her boots made like ours, because she said the roads were
so rough and muddy (which they are). And we found two of her books
with her name written in, and she had put "Henry," and Rupert wrote
Etta after it, and "Monkey" after that. So she tore the leaves out. Her
hair was always coming out of curl. It was very dark, and when it fell
into her eyes she used to give her head a peculiar shake and toss, so that
half of it fell the wrong way, and there was a parting at the side, like
our partings. Nothing made Rupert angrier