'Get me a pair of thick boots, Godfrey, will
you? And stay, let somebody run to Winthrop's and fetch Dolly- she's
the best woman to get. Ben was here himself before supper; is he
gone?'
'Yes, sir, I met him,' said Marner; 'but I couldn't stop to tell
him anything, only I said I was going for the doctor, and he said
the doctor was at the Squire's. And I made haste and ran, and there
was nobody to be seen at the back o' the house, and so I went in to
where the company was.'
The child, no longer distracted by the bright light and the smiling
women's faces, began to cry and call for 'mammy', though always
clinging to Marner, who had apparently won her thorough confidence.
Godfrey had come back with the boots, and felt the cry as if some
fibre were drawn tight within him.
'I'll go,' he said, hastily, eager for some movement; 'I'll go
and fetch the woman- Mrs Winthrop.'
'Oh, pooh- send somebody else,' said uncle Kimble, hurrying away
with Marner.
'You'll let me know if I can be of any use, Kimble,' said Mr
Crackenthorp. But the doctor was out of hearing.
Godfrey, too, had disappeared: he was gone to snatch his hat and
coat, having just reflection enough to remember that he must not
look like a madman; but he rushed out of the house into the snow
without heeding his thin shoes.
In a few minutes he was on his rapid way to the Stone-pits by the
side of Dolly, who, though feeling that she was entirely in her
place in encountering cold and snow on an errand of mercy, was much
concerned at a young gentleman's getting his feet wet under a like
impulse.
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