Janet | Page 5

the things that I wanted to and that makes me feel a little bit better."
She hesitated over the ending, and finally decided just to sign her name.
Then without reading over what she had written, lest her resolve
weaken, she folded up the paper and put it into its envelope.
Boru's tail thumping on the floor made her conscious of steps outside
her door, and she hastily finished writing the address and slipped the
letter into her pocket just as Martha opened the door.
"Now, Miss Janet, not dressed for your tea, and it's almost six o'clock,
and Miss Waters with our grandmother and wanting to see you! Tut,
tut!" Martha shook her gray head in real despair. She was a kindly old
woman, who had served faithfully all her life, but because it was so
simple for her to do what was expected of her always she had never
understood how hard it was sometimes for others; but she was never
cross and usually contented herself with saying "Tut, tut!" in her mild
old voice at all of Janet's failings.
"What does Mrs. Waters want me for?" Janet asked. A vision of Harry's
mother retailing the afternoon's adventure with the snake made her
heart sink.
"I couldn't say, my dear," Martha replied placidly. "Your grandmother
sent me to get you. Here now, brush up your hair a little bit. Are your
hands clean?"
Janet submitted to being tidied up, and then hurried downstairs to her
grandmother's room.
Mrs. Waters was seated in the visitor's chair, her back to the door, but
she turned around when Janet entered and smiled a welcome. Mrs. Page
spoke:
"Janet, what is all this I hear about your knowing how to take care of

sick dogs?" she inquired crossly.
Janet hesitated. She did know a good deal about the care of all animals,
but she was at a loss as to how to explain her knowledge to her
grandmother.
"Well, do you or don't you know anything about them?" Mrs. Page
insisted impatiently.
"Yes, I do know about them." Janet's reply came so quickly that it
surprised herself.
Her grandmother looked at her for a long minute and then nodded her
head. "Very well; go with Mrs. Waters and do what you can for her
dog," she said sharply, and then to indicate that the interview was at an
end she turned her back on her visitors.
Mrs. Waters took Janet's arm and hurried out of the room. She was a
timid little woman, very easily silenced, and she still spoke in a half
whisper when they were out of the house.
"It's Roy, my dear, our English setter; he has hurt his paw, and the
veterinary is away," she explained.
Janet gave a mighty sigh of relief. Harry had not told tales. She smiled
at his mother reassuringly.
"Poor old fellow. I hope I can do something to help him."
"Oh, I'm sure you can. Harry says you are wonderful with animals,"
Mrs. Waters replied. "Roy is such a valuable dog," she added.
They reached the Waters' cottage, just off the main street of the little
village, and Janet followed Mrs. Waters around to the barn. Before the
door was opened, she could hear the low moan of an animal in pain.
Once inside, she knelt down beside Roy and patted him. He gave her
the affectionate welcome, always awarded a true dig lover.
She examined his paw and found the trouble to be a deeply embedded

splinter.
"May I have a darning needle?" she asked. Mrs. Waters hurried to the
house to get it. Janet busied herself filling a basin with clear spring
water, and she took the towel from its roller on the kitchen porch.
"Here it is, my dear," Mrs. Waters said, "and a bottle of peroxide. You
don't mind if I don't stay, do you? I'd be sure to faint."
Janet smiled. "No indeed. I can get along quite well alone," she said,
and knelt to her task.
For the next few minutes she was absorbed in her work. The splinter
was in deep, and it was hard to make Roy lie still. She was about to
give up in despair when a voice, almost at her elbow, said:
"Here, let me help."
She turned quickly, startled, and saw a boy about fifteen, very shabbily
dressed in old blue overalls and a torn straw hat. His hair, burnt by the
sun, was almost red, and his eyes were a clear gray. Janet was too
astonished to speak, but with a nod she accepted his offer to help, and
they worked in silence until the splinter was out and the wound
carefully bathed.
"I guess I'll let him lick it," Janet said, putting aside the bandage Mrs.
Waters had given her.