the faintly uttered reply also. He is sober enough to have all his
fears instantly excited. There is nothing in the world that he
loves as he loves that child. And so he gets up and dresses
himself as quickly as possible; the stimulus of anxiety giving
tension to his relaxed nerves.

"Oh, father!" The quick ears of Mary detect his entrance first,
and a pleasant smile welcomes him.

"Is she very sick, doctor?" he asks, in a voice full of anxiety.

"She's a sick child, sir; you should have sent for me earlier."
The doctor speaks rather sternly, and with a purpose to rebuke.

The reply stirs Morgan, and he seems to cower half timidly under
the words, as if they were blows. Mary has already grasped her
father's hand, and holds on to it tightly.

After examining the case a little more closely, the doctor
prepares some medicine, and, promising to call early in the
morning, goes away. Mrs. Slade follows soon after; but, in parting
with Mrs. Morgan, leaves something in her hand, which, to the
surprise of the latter, proves to be a ten-dollar bill. The tears
start to her eyes; and she conceals the money in her bosom--
murmuring a fervent "God bless her!"

A simple act of restitution is this on the part of Mrs. Slade,
prompted as well by humanity as a sense of justice. With one hand
her husband has taken the bread from the family of his old friend,
and thus with the other she restores it.