beside her, I drew up a
chair before the fire, placing myself in such a position as to command
a full view of the bed. My first night passed undisturbed by any
incident, and in the morning the condition of my patient showed a
slight improvement. It was eight o'clock in the evening when I came on
duty again, and, the weather having changed during the day, the whole
room echoed and re-echoed with the howling of the wind, which was
raging round the house with demoniacal fury.

I had been at my post for a little over two hours--and had just
registered my patient's temperature, when, happening to look up from
the book I was reading, I saw to my surprise that the chair beside the
head of the bed was occupied by a child--a tiny girl. How she had come
into the room without attracting my attention was certainly
extraordinary, and I could only suppose that the shrieking of the wind
down the wide chimney had deadened the sound of the door and her
footsteps.

I was naturally, of course, very indignant that she had dared to come
in without rapping, and, getting up from my seat I was preparing to
address her and bid her go, when she lifted a wee white hand and
motioned me back. I obeyed because I could not help myself--her
action was accompanied by a peculiar,--an unpleasantly peculiar,
expression that held me spellbound; and without exactly knowing why,
I stood staring at her, tongue-tied and trembling. As her face was
turned towards the patient, and she wore, moreover, a very
wide-brimmed hat, I could see nothing of her features; but from her
graceful little figure and dainty limbs, I gathered that she was
probably both beautiful and aristocratic. Her dress, though not
perhaps of the richest quality, was certainly far from shoddy, and
there was something in its style and make that suggested foreign
nationality,--Italy--or Spain--or South America--or even the Orient,
the probability of the latter being strengthened by her pose, which
was full of the serpent-like ease which is characteristic of the
East. I was so taken up with watching her that I forgot all about my
patient, until a prolonged sigh from the bed reminded me of her
existence. With an effort I then advanced, and was about to approach
the bed, when the child, without moving her head, motioned me back,
and--again I was helpless. The vision I had obtained of the sick
woman, brief though it was, filled me with alarm. She was tossing to
and fro on the blankets, and breath