
terrible that he dared not even ask the question which might bring the fatal
»yes« - he dared not ask the surgeon or Mr. Stelling, »Shall I be lame, sir?« He
mastered himself so as not to cry out at the pain, but when his foot had been
dressed, and he was left alone with Maggie seated by his bedside, the children
sobbed together with their heads laid on the same pillow. Tom was thinking of
himself walking about on crutches, like the wheelwright's son; and Maggie, who
did not guess what was in his mind, sobbed for company. It had not occurred to
the surgeon or to Mr. Stelling to anticipate this dread in Tom's mind, and to
reassure him by hopeful words. But Philip watched the surgeon out of the house,
and waylaid Mr. Stelling to ask the very question that Tom had not dared to ask
for himself.
    »I beg your pardon, sir, - but does Mr. Askern say Tulliver will be lame?«
    »O no, O no,« said Mr. Stelling, »not permanently, only for a little while.«
    »Did he tell Tulliver so, sir, do you think?«
    »No: nothing was said to him on the subject.«
    »Then may I go and tell him, sir?«
    »Yes, to be sure: now you mention it, I daresay he may be troubling about
that. Go to his bedroom, but be very quiet at present.«
    It had been Philip's first thought when he heard of the accident - »Will
Tulliver be lame? It will be very hard for him if he is« - and Tom's hitherto
unforgiven offences were washed out by that pity. Philip felt that they were no
longer in a state of repulsion, but were being drawn into a common current of
suffering and sad privation. His imagination did not dwell on the outward
calamity and its future effect on Tom's life, but it made vividly present to him
the probable state of Tom's feeling. Philip had only lived fourteen years, but
those years had, most of them, been steeped in the sense of a lot irremediably
hard.
    »Mr. Askern says you'll soon be all right again, Tulliver, did you know?« he
said, rather timidly, as he stepped gently up to Tom's bed. »I've just been to
ask Mr. Stelling, and he says you'll walk as well as ever again, by-and-by
