"Leave the expense to me, and also the chance of its doing any good. I
should never have an easy moment if I let that little lad die without
having done all in my power. Two heads are better than one. Do you
object to consulting with Dr. H----?"

"By no means, Mr. Hinton. He is a noted authority on such cases."

"Then be here in an hour from now, doctor, and you shall meet him."

Away flew Hinton, and within the specified time the great authority on
such cases was standing by little Harold's bedside.

"The fever is over, but the child is sinking from exhaustion. Give him a
glass of champagne instantly," were the first directions given by the
great man.

Hinton returned with a bottle of the best his money could purchase in
ten minutes.

A tablespoonful was given to the child. He opened his eyes and seemed
revived.

"Ah! that is good. I will stay with the little fellow to-night," said
Dr. H----. "You, madam," he added, looking at Mrs. Home, "are to go to
bed. On no other condition do I stay."

Hinton and Dr. H---- shared that night's watch between them, and in the
morning the little life was pronounced safe.

CHAPTER XXII.

EMPTY PURSES.

It was not until Harold's life was really safe that his mother realized
how very nearly he had been taken from her. But for Hinton's timely
interposition, and the arrival of Doctor H---- at the critical moment,
the face she so loved might have been cold and still now, and the spirit
have returned to God who gave it.

Looking at the little sleeper breathing in renewed health and life with
each gentle inspiration, such a rush of gratitude and over-powering
emotion came over Mrs. Home that she was obliged to follow Hinton into
his sitting-room. There she suddenly went down on her knees.

"God bless you," she said. "God most abundantly bless you for what you
have done for me and mine. You are, except my husband, the most truly
Christian man I ever met."

"Don't," said Hinton, moved and even shocked at her position. "I
loved--I love the little lad. It is nothing, what we do for those we
love."

"No; it is, as you express it, nothing to save a mother's heart from
worse than breaking," answered Charlotte Home. "If ever you marry and
have a son of your own, you will begin to understand what you have done
for me. You will be thankful then to think of this day."

Then with a smile which an angel might have given him, the mother went
away, and Hinton sat down to writ