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Show Nettie, Page 10 along the road near the school and stretched out in the back was a strangely familiar figure. Papa's face looked grim. "It's Frank!" gasped Nettie. The other children crowded quickly around the window. Nettie pushed her way back through the children and out the schoolroom door. "Frank, Frank, are you hurt?" Nettie ran after the jouncing wagon, head bare, coat forgotten. But Frank was unconscious. Nettie chased behind the wagon all the way home, calling Frank's name and crying when he didn't respond. When the wagon stopped, Nettie kept right on running past the wagon and into the house, calling. "Mama, Mama, it's Frank. He's hurt bad. He won't talk to me." "Nettie, calm down. Get Alice and Clarence and keep them in the kitchen." Mama's heart was in her throat as visions of other mine accidents raced through her mind, but she responded with her usual efficiency. Papa embraced his wife and explained. "There was a cave-in, Margaret. Frank's mine cart jumped the track and hit him. A bolt from the cart smashed into his jaw." "Let's get him into the house." Mama ran for a blanket, and though she was small, she packed a lot of strength into her little frame. Papa, Mama and Brig moved Frank onto the blanket and carried him into the cabin. Mama gently covered him with a quilt. Frank moaned and moved his head, his smashed jaw becoming visible for the first time. "Frank, oh, son," she murmured. Her hand stretched out instinctively toward her son, but then drew back; it wasn't often Mama didn't know what |
