long way, facing
the storm, after taking off his warm fur overcoat, and he was just
recovering from a severe cough, too. She trembled for its effect upon
him. It went to her heart to hear his husky breathing as he sat there
trembling before the fire. They got him to bed soon, and Aunt Prudence
tramped through the storm for Dr. Mackay, the young doctor who had
started up on the other side of the town. He came at once, and looked
grave after he had made a careful examination. There had been some
trouble with the heart setting in, and the excitement of his adventure
in the storm had aggravated it. Beth remembered his having trouble of
that sort once before, and she thought she read danger in Dr. Mackay's
face.

That was a long, strange night to Beth as she sat there alone by her
father's bedside. He did not sleep, his breathing seemed so difficult.
She had never seen him look like that before--so weak and helpless, his
silvery hair falling back from his brow, his cheeks flushed, but not
with health. He said nothing, but he looked at her with a pitying look
sometimes. What did it all mean? Where would it end? She gave him his
medicine from hour to hour. The sleet beat on the window and the heavy
ticking of the clock in the intervals of the storm sounded like
approaching footsteps. The wind roared, and the old shutter creaked
uneasily. The husky breathing continued by her side and the hours grew
longer. Oh, for the morning! What would the morrow bring? She had
promised May to awaken her at three o'clock, but she looked so serene
sleeping with a smile on her lips, that Beth only kissed her softly and
went back to her place. Her father had fallen asleep, and it was an hour
later that she heard a gentle step beside her, and May looked at her
reproachfully. She went to her room and left May to watch. There was a
box on her table that her father had left before he went out that
evening, and then she remembered that it was Christmas morning.
Christmas morning! There was a handsome leather-bound Bible and a gold
watch with a tiny diamond set in the back. She had a choked feeling as
she lay down, but she was so exhausted she soon slept. It was late in
the morning when she awoke, and May did not tell her of her father's
fainting spell. Aunt Prudence was to sit up that night. The dear old
housekeeper! How kind she was, Beth thought. She had often been amused
at the quaint, old-fashioned creature. But she was a kind old soul, in
spite