Glancing about the room for something to do,she saw a sheet of paper lying exactly out of reach,where it had fluttered from the table unperceived.At first her eye rested on it as carelessly as it did on the stray stamp Frank had dropped;then,as if one thing suggested the other,she took it into her head that the paper was Frank's composition,or,better still,a note to Annette,for the two corresponded when absence or weather prevented the daily meeting at school.
"Wouldn't it be fun to keep it till he gives back Jack's stamps?It would plague him so if it was a note,and I do believe it is,for compo's don't begin with two words on one side.I'll get it,and Jack and I will plan some way to pay him off,cross thing!"Forgetting her promise not to stir,also how dishonorable it was to read other people's letters,Jill caught up the long-handled hook,often in use now,and tried to pull the paper nearer.It would not come at once,for a seam in the carpet held it,and Jill feared to tear or crumple it if she was not very careful.The hook was rather heavy and long for her to manage,and Jack usually did the fishing,so she was not very skilful;and just as she was giving a particularly quick jerk,she lost her balance,fell off the sofa,and dropped the pole with a bang.
"Oh,my back!"was all she could think or say as she felt the jar all through her little body,and a corresponding fear in her guilty little mind that someone would come and find out the double mischief she had been at.For a moment she lay quite still to recover from the shock,then as the pain passed she began to wonder how she should get back,and looked about her to see if she could do it alone.She thought she could,as the sofa was near and she had improved so much that she could sit up a little if the doctor would have let her.She was gathering herself together for the effort,when,within arm's reach now,she saw the tempting paper,and seized it with glee,for in spite of her predicament she did want to tease Frank.A glance showed that it was not the composition nor a note,but the beginning of a letter from Mrs.Minot to her sister,and Jill was about to lay it down when her own name caught her eye,and she could not resist reading it.Hard words to write of one so young,doubly hard to read,and impossible to forget.
"Dear Lizzie,Jack continues to do very well,and will soon be up again.But we begin to fear that the little girl is permanently injured in the back.She is here,and we do our best for her;but Inever look at her without thinking of Lucinda Snow,who,you remember,was bedridden for twenty years,owing to a fall at fifteen.Poor little Janey does not know yet,and I hope"--There it ended,and "poor little Janey's"punishment for disobedience began that instant.She thought she was getting well because she did not suffer all the time,and everyone spoke cheerfully about "by and by."Now she knew the truth,and shut her eyes with a shiver as she said,low,to herself,"Twenty years!I couldn't bear it;oh,I couldn't bear it!"A very miserable Jill lay on the floor,and for a while did not care who came and found her;then the last words of the letter--"Ihope"--seemed to shine across the blackness of the dreadful "twenty years"and cheer her up a bit,for despair never lives long in young hearts,and Jill was a brave child.
"That is why Mammy sighs so when she dresses me,and everyone is so good to me.Perhaps Mrs.Minot doesn't really know,after all.
She was dreadfully scared about Jack,and he is getting well.I'd like to ask Doctor,but he might find Out about the letter.Oh,dear,why didn't I keep still and let the horrid thing alone!"As she thought that,Jill pushed the paper away,pulled herself up,and with much painful effort managed to get back to her sofa,where she laid herself down with a groan,feeling as if the twenty years had already passed over her since she tumbled off.
"I've told a lie,for I said I wouldn't stir.I've hurt my back,I've done a mean thing,and I've got paid for it.A nice missionary I am;I'd better begin at home,as Mammy told me to";and Jill groaned again,remembering her mother's words."Now I've got another secret to keep all alone,for I'd be ashamed to tell the girls.I guess I'll turn round and study my spelling;then no one will see my face."Jill looked the picture of a good,industrious child as she lay with her back to the large table,her book held so that nothing was to be seen but one cheek and a pair of lips moving busily.Fortunately,it is difficult for little sinners to act a part,and,even if the face is hidden,something in the body seems to betray the internal remorse and shame.Usually,Jill lay flat and still;now her back was bent in a peculiar way as she leaned over her book,and one foot wagged nervously,while on the visible cheek was a Spanish stamp with a woman's face looking through the black bars,very suggestively,if she had known it.How long the minutes seemed till someone came,and what a queer little jump her heart gave when Mrs.
Minot's voice said,cheerfully,"Jack is all right,and,I declare,so is Jill.I really believe there is a telegraph still working somewhere between you two,and each knows what the other is about without words.""I didn't have any other book handy,so I thought I'd study awhile,"answered Jill,feeling that she deserved no praise for her seeming industry.
She cast a sidelong glance as she spoke,and seeing that Mrs.
Minot was looking for the letter,hid her face and lay so still she could hear the rustle of the paper as it was taken from the floor.It was well she did not also see the quick look the lady gave her as she turned the letter and found a red stamp sticking to the under side,for this unlucky little witness told the story.
Mrs.Minot remembered having seen the stamp lying close to the sofa when she left the room,for she had had half a mind to take it to Jack,but did not,thinking Frank's plan had some advantages.
