“She will, too,” she said.  “Her dear little sister—­the only one she’s got.”  And Kittie went on to say what a terrible thing it would have been if she had died in the promise of her young life, till Mabel said she almost felt sure herself that George had saved her.  But George hesitated.  He said it wasn’t “a square deal,” whatever that means, but Kittie said no one need tell any lies.  She had gone into the hole and George had pulled her out.  She thought they needn’t explain how deep it was, and George admitted thoughtfully that “no truly loving family should hunger for statistics at such a moment.”  Finally he said:  “By Jove!  I’ll do it.  All’s fair in love and war.”  Then he asked Mabel if she thought she could “lend intelligent support to the star performers,” and she said she could.  So George picked Kittie up in his arms, and Mabel cried—­she was so excited it was easy, and she wanted to do it all the time—­and the sad little procession “homeward wended its weary way,” as the poet says.

Mabel told me Kittie did her part like a real actress.  She shut her eyes and her head hung over George’s arm, and her long, wet braid dripped as it trailed behind them.  George laughed to himself every few minutes till they got near the club-house.  Then he looked very sober, and Mabel Blossom knew her cue had come, the way it does to actresses, and she let out a wail that almost made Kittie sit up.  It was ’most too much of a one, and Mr. Morgan advised her to “tone it down a little,” because, he said, if she didn’t they’d probably have Kittie buried before she could explain.  But of course Mabel had not been prepared and had not had any practice.  She muffled her sobs after that, and they sounded lots better.  People began to rush from the club-house, and get blankets and whiskey, and telephone for doctors and for Kittie’s family, and things got so exciting that nobody paid any attention to Mabel.  All she had to do was to mop her eyes occasionally and keep a sharp lookout for Josephine; for of course, being an ardent student of life, like Maudie and me, she did not want to miss what came next.

Pretty soon a horse galloped up, all foaming at the mouth, and he was pulled back on his haunches, and Josephine and Mr. James jumped out of the buggy and rushed in, and there was more excitement.  When George saw them coming he turned pale, Mabel said, and hurried off to change his clothes.  One woman looked after him and said, “As modest as he is brave,” and cried over it.  When Josephine and Mr. James came in there was more excitement, and Kittie opened one eye and shut it again right off, and the doctor said she was all right except for the shock, and her father and Josephine cried, so Mabel didn’t have to any more.  She was glad, too, I can tell you.

They put Kittie to bed in a room at the club, for the doctor said she was such a high-strung child it would be wise to keep her perfectly quiet for a few hours and take precautions against pneumonia.  Then Josephine went around asking for Mr. Morgan.