Dick Lionheart | Page 4

as he turned from his examination of
Susy's hurts. "You women spend enough at the 'Blue Dragon' every
week to put a guard at every fire-place, to say nothing of what the men
spend. If you hadn't been drinking together, and neglecting home, this
wouldn't have happened. I can smell the gin here and now!"
The old doctor was noted for his plain speaking, but with all his
sternness to wrong doing, he was very tender-hearted, and nothing
could have been more gentle than his touch on Susy's arm.
Fortunately her hurts were surface burns, and no vital part had been
touched by the flame. But Dick's were more severe, and the doctor took
infinite pains in bandaging the scarred hands and wrists.

"You're a brave lad," he said, when the pain was eased, and the last
strip of lint put on. "How did you come to be burned like this?"
"I ran in from the garden when she screamed, and I got her down and
scrambled out the flames somehow with my hands and jacket. You see,
I had to be Lionheart," he added softly.
"Lionheart, is he your hero, the crusader king?"
Dick nodded, half scared at finding his cherished aspirations shared by
another.
"But there is a living Leader to follow, my boy, who is better than all
the knights of old. Do you know whom I mean?"
"Yes, sir, the Lord Jesus."
"Yes, He is the Lion of Judah, and the true Captain of all true crusaders
to-day. Follow Him, and he will make you Lionheart indeed."
Then turning to Mrs. Fowley, he said in a different tone, "You owe
your child's life to this brave little lad. Now take care of him in return.
He'll not be able to work for a good while, and he wants feeding up as
well. He has no business to be so thin and ill-nourished. See that his
hands are kept covered, and Susy's arm too. I'll send liniment down
to-night for both. And you will have to nurse the baby yourself, and do
the work for many a day."
The old doctor's voice was stern as he finished, for he had known
Dick's father and mother in their own tidy little home, and he hated Mrs.
Fowley's drinking habits, and her neglect of the children, and
unkindness to the orphan boy. For once she looked ashamed of herself,
and the neighbours, feeling guilty themselves, slipped away. They
knew the doctor was right, and that most of the accidents he had to
attend, and the poverty that caused him to work for nothing, were alike
due to the drink.
And life was certainly a little easier for Dick in the next few days.

His bandaged hands made house-work impossible, and so he was
allowed to go to school in peace.
And the knowledge that Susy owed her life to him, made even the
ill-tempered father a shade less surly.
He could not write or do sums, but the teacher saw that his time was
well filled. Dick was a favourite of his because his work was so
faithfully done, in spite of drawbacks.
Home lessons had small chance in Mrs. Fowley's presence, and the
frequent excuses for keeping him at home had sadly interfered with his
getting on, but in school no boy was happier than he.
In the playground there might be taunts about his shabby clothes, and
rough usage from the Fowley boys, that were hard to bear patiently.
And he did not always succeed in keeping his temper down.
But when, once or twice, he had struck a blow for freedom, garbled
tales were carried home and he had to suffer tenfold afterwards for his
daring.
But the thought of Lionheart and his long waiting made him brave to
suffer and endure. And more and more the thought of Jesus, as the
Friend and Leader of those who follow Him, filled the darkest hours
with joy.
The annual examination was drawing near, and Dick was very anxious
to be able to use his hands by then, and "pass the standard"
successfully.
Meanwhile, he worked doubly hard, and went far ahead of the other
boys in lessons that had to be learned by heart.
And the teacher lent him books to read that helped him wonderfully,
though he could only read them by snatches.
He saw how boys as poor and friendless as himself had had to bear

hardship and unkindness, and how they had fought their way onward,
through all difficulties, to success and freedom, and his own resolve
grew stronger every day.
Now and then Mrs. Fowley would order him to be off out of her way,
and when this happened in the evening he gladly went to Paddy's
lodgings.
It was so quiet there, after the scolding