ou have been playing the game!" she said quietly.

Then she turned to me, seizing one of my arms.

"Hurry!" she cried. "You must hurry, Daddy. Why don't you go on? He has
diphtheria, and perhaps half the people here will have it now. Perhaps he
is going to die! Come, Daddy, you must hurry. The _Snowbird_ will take
you to St. John's and you must buy antitoxine, a lot of it, and come back
with it at once. And you should get a doctor, and a nurse or two, and I
will stay here, and please don't look at me that way! Do hurry, Daddy!
Oh! I was forgetting your poor leg. Never mind, take your time, Daddy,
but as soon as you are on board make them hurry. Susie will stay with me.
A few days won't matter, Daddy!"

"Oh! Daughter. Please come," I implored her. "I promise that I will send
the yacht back at once with a doctor and everything."

She looked at me in amazed surprise.

"But how can I leave now, Dad?" she asked. "Don't you understand that a
lot of people may die if you don't get help at once, and of course I must
stay. You will do your best, won't you? Come, dear, and let me help you
down the path. You can be gone in a few minutes."

"Leave you here!" I exclaimed, indignantly. "You are crazy, girl! I'll
stay with you, of course. Here, some of you fellows, run down to the cove
and tell my skipper to come here at once."

So I stood there, just outside the door, watching a man scramble down the
road, who finally returned with Stefansson. Helen stood perfectly still,
except for the toe of one of her boots, which was tapping a tattoo on the
boards.

"Get the _Snowbird_ under weigh at once," I shouted. "Run up to St.
John's and buy all the antitoxine you can get hold of, any amount,
barrels of it, if it comes that way. And bring a doctor back with you.
Promise him all the money he wants. And get a nurse, or a couple of them,
or a dozen. Regular trained nurses, you understand. Yes, it's antitoxine
I want. Write it down. It's the stuff they use for diphtheria. Then get
back here at once. Carry all the sail she'll bear and all the steam
she'll take. Look lively and don't waste a minute. Here, you Sammy! Go
aboard too and help pilot her back if it's dark or foggy. Good luck to
you and jump her for all she's worth!"

I suppose I spoke like a crazy man, but the two started down hill.
Stefansson, who has long legs, only beat the old fellow by a skip and a
jump. Then I saw the men casting off the hawsers, and the thin film of
sm