The yard was full of people , but nobody had as yet said a word ; awe and wonder held everybody in spellbound silence . Judith was the first to speak . She pushed through the crowd to Salome . Her face was blanched to a deadly whiteness ; and her eyes , as Mrs. William Blair afterwards declared , were enough to give a body the creeps . `` Salome , '' she said in a high , shrill , unnatural voice , `` where is your crutch ? '' Salome came to herself at the question . For the first time , she realized that she had walked , nay , run , all that distance from the church alone and unaided . She turned pale , swayed , and would have fallen if Judith had not caught her . Old Dr. Blair came forward briskly . `` Carry her in , '' he said , `` and do n't all of you come crowding in , either . She wants quiet and rest for a spell . '' Most of the people obediently returned to the church , their sudden loosened tongues clattering in voluble excitement . A few women assisted Judith to carry Salome in and lay her on the kitchen lounge , followed by the doctor and the dripping Lionel Hezekiah , whom the minister had lifted out of the hogshead and to whom nobody now paid the slightest attention . Salome faltered out her story , and her hearers listened with varying emotions . `` It 's a miracle , '' said Sam Lawson in an awed voice . Dr. Blair shrugged his shoulders . `` There is no miracle about it , '' he said bluntly . `` It 's all perfectly natural . The disease in the hip has evidently been quite well for a long time ; Nature does sometimes work cures like that when she is let alone . The trouble was that the muscles were paralyzed by long disuse .
That paralysis was overcome by the force XXXXX a strong and instinctive effort .
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