le which the entrance of Bob and Betty had
evidently interrupted. "Here are a few directions for you, Betty. I
do not think there will be anything for you to do to-night. Both
should sleep right through, and I'll be out in the morning. I have
made a bed for you on the parlor sofa, and one for Bob here in the
kitchen. I thought you'd want to be near the patients. And, then,
too, the rooms upstairs are damp and musty; evidently the upper floor
of the house hasn't been used for some time. Now are you sure you
will be all right? Does Mr. Gordon know you are here?"

Bob explained that they had left a message for Mr. Gordon at the
Watterby farm, and Doctor Morrison, who of course knew of the fire,
nodded understandingly. Then he bade them good-night, promising to
make them his first call in the morning.

"I'll go out and bed down the horses and feed the stock," said Bob,
after the light of the doctor's car had disappeared down the road.
"Do go to bed, Betty; you're all tuckered out."

But Betty flatly refused to stay in the house without Bob. She tagged
sleepily after him while he carried water to the horses and cows,
bedded them down and littered the pig pens with fresh straw. He
bolted the doors of the barns and hen house and made everything snug
for the night. Then he and Betty went back to the house, having
stabled their own horses in two empty stalls that, judging from the
dusty hay in the mangers, had not been used recently.

Both patients were sleeping, breathing rather heavily and hoarsely,
it is true, but apparently resting comfortably. Betty and Bob were
thoroughly tired out and glad to say good-night and go to bed. As
Betty snuggled down on the comfortable old couch, she thought how
kind of the doctor to have made things ready for them.

The sun streaming in through the windows woke her the next morning.
With a start she jumped up and put on her slippers and blue robe.
With the healthy vigor of youth she had slept without once waking
during the night, and not once had the thought of her patients
disturbed her. Cautiously she tiptoed into the two bedrooms. Miss
Charity and Miss Hope were sleeping quietly. A swift peep into the
kitchen showed her a fire snapping briskly in the stove and the
teakettle sending out clouds of steam. Bob was nowhere in sight.

"He's out at the barn," thought Betty. "I must hurry and get
breakfast."

She dressed quickly but trimly, as usual, and raised the windows of
the parlor. S