Just lay easy , my dear , and I wo n't hurt you a mite if I can help it . '' Careful as Mr. Grant was , Jill could have screamed with pain as he lifted her ; but she set her lips and bore it with the courage of a little Indian ; for all the lads were looking on , and Jill was proud to show that a girl could bear as much as a boy . She hid her face in the coat as soon as she was settled , to hide the tears that would come , and by the time Jack was placed beside her , she had quite a little cistern of salt water stored up in Ed 's coat-pocket . Then the mournful procession set forth , Mr. Grant driving the oxen , the girls clustering about the interesting invalids on the sled , while the boys came behind like a guard of honor , leaving the hill deserted by all but Joe , who had returned to hover about the fatal fence , and poor `` Thunderbolt , '' split asunder , lying on the bank to mark the spot where the great catastrophe occurred . Chapter II . Two Penitents Jack and Jill never cared to say much about the night which followed the first coasting party of the season , for it was the saddest and the hardest their short lives had ever known . Jack suffered most in body ; for the setting of the broken leg was such a painful job , that it wrung several sharp cries from him , and made Frank , who helped , quite weak and white with sympathy , when it was over . The wounded head ached dreadfully , and the poor boy felt as if bruised all over , for he had the worst of the fall . Dr. Whiting spoke cheerfully of the case , and made so light of broken legs , that Jack innocently asked if he should not be up in a week or so . `` Well , no ; it usually takes twenty-one days for bones to knit , and young ones make quick work of it , '' answered the doctor , with a last scientific tuck to the various bandages , which made Jack feel like a hapless chicken trussed for the spit . `` Twenty-one days ! Three whole weeks in bed ! I should n't call that quick work , '' groaned the dismayed patient , whose experience of illness had been limited . `` It is a forty days ' job , young man , and you must make up your mind to bear it like a hero . We will do our best ; but next time , look before you leap , and save your bones . Good-night ; you 'll feel better in the morning . No jigs , remember ; '' and off went the busy doctor for another look at Jill , who had been ordered to bed and left to rest till the other case was attended to . Any one would have thought Jack 's plight much the worse , but the doctor looked more sober over Jill 's hurt back than the boy 's compound fractures ; and the poor little girl had a very bad quarter of an hour while he was trying to discover the extent of the injury . `` Keep her quiet , and time will show how much damage is done , '' was all he said in her hearing ; but if she had known that he told Mrs. Pecq he feared serious consequences , she would not have wondered why her mother cried as she rubbed the numb limbs and placed the pillows so tenderly . Jill suffered most in her mind ; for only a sharp stab of pain now and then reminded her of her body ; but her remorseful little soul gave her no peace for thinking of Jack , whose bruises and breakages her lively fancy painted in the darkest colors .
`` Oh , do n't be good to me , Mammy ; I made him go , and now he 's hurt dreadfully , and may die ; and it is all my fault , and everybody ought to hate me , '' sobbed poor XXXXX , as a neighbor left the room after reporting in a minute manner how Jack screamed when his leg was set , and how Frank was found white as a sheet , with his head under the pump , while Gus restored the tone of his friend 's nerves , by pumping as if the house was on fire .
Frank Grant Jill Joe breakages coat-pocket days jigs night week