The Prize to the Hardy (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXII THE SUBJUGATION OF A PARENT That was an exciting night, a night when even Nicholas Windsor, who had known the vicissitudes of bears and bulls, and hung a dozen times on the verge where a tumble meant failure, found himself unable to sleep. After he had seen the now utterly collapsed Lenox safely back to town and comfortably ensconced in his own room with a trained nurse and an optimistic surgeon, Windsor returned to his own home, thinking that his agitations were over. The first glance at his daughter's face, as she sat tensely awaiting him, upset him more than all that had gone before. For, after all, one can endure with considerable equanimity the broken leg of a distant cousin, even if that cousin be a fine likable boy. "You ought to be in bed, Vera," exclaimed the old man testily. "You are utterly exhausted by hauling that worthless fellow so far, and if I had dreamed that you would be so foolish as to sit up and wait for me, I would have brought you home, and seen you tucked up before I lifted my hand for him." "Then I am glad you did not dream. There are so many things I want to talk to you about, I simply couldn't go to bed. Don't be savage. And first tell me, how is Frank?" Her father's jaw dropped. "Frank " he exclaimed. "Well, I do think 'Frank' And since when has he been 'Frank' to you? 'Frank' " Vera stamped her foot. "Tell me how Frank is " she said. "Oh, of course, 'Frank' Well, he's as well as you could expect. Why shouldn't he be? Why, when I was his age, and as strong as a young buck, I shouldn't have thought anything of a broken leg. But he used you like a pack-mule. He isn't half so much done up as you are, the ungrateful villain I will say, I never saw a man take things with more grit. I wonder how much he smashed the ...