"Then do your best for her, doctor."

"You can rely on me for that, Mrs. Beaufort. Good morning."

With a heavy heart the mother returned to the sick chamber of her
daughter, and sat down by the bedside, thoughtfully, for a few
moments, while she held Amanda's hand, that was hot with fever. Then
recollecting herself, she left the room to prepare the stimulating
application which had been ordered.

It is remarkable how the whole system will sympathize with one
diseased part. The cold which Amanda had taken concentrated its
active effects upon her respiratory organs; but it was felt also in
every member, prostrating the whole body, and giving a sensation of
general suffering. Her head ached violently, and a burning fever
diffused itself over the entire surface of her body.

How sadly was she proving the truth of her mother's warning, when
she said to her, in the language of divine authority, "The way of
transgressors is hard."

She had violated a law of health, and in that violation, as in the
violation of every physical or moral law, the penalty of
transgression followed too surely.

It was a week before Amanda was able to go about again, and then her
pale cheeks, and debilitated frame indicated but too plainly the sad
consequences of a single imprudent act.