er hands to the small of
her back, quite ignoring poor Aggie, whom the chair had caught in the
epigastric region, and who was compelled for some time to struggle for
breath.

"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" said Tish in an angry tone. It is rare for Tish
to use the name of a Biblical character in this way, but she was clearly
suffering. "What in the world are you doing, Aggie?"

"T-t-trying to breathe," poor Aggie replied.

"Then I wish," Tish said coldly, "that you would make the effort some
place else than on the rocker of my chair. You jarred me, and I am in no
state to be jarred."

But she refused to explain further, beyond saying, in reply to a
question of mine, that she was not feverish and that she had not been
asleep, having merely closed her eyes to rest them. Also she affirmed
that she was not taking riding-lessons. We both noticed however, that
she did not leave her chair during the time we were there, and that she
was sitting on the sofa cushion I had made her for the previous
Christmas, and on which I had embroidered the poet Moore's beautiful
words: "Come, rest in this bosom."

As Aggie was still feeling faint, I advised her to take a mouthful of
blackberry cordial, which Tish keeps for emergencies in her bathroom
closet. Immediately following her departure the calm of the evening was
broken by a loud shriek.

It appeared, on my rushing to the bathroom, while Tish sat heartlessly
still, that Aggie, not seeing a glass, had placed the bottle to her lips
and taken quite a large mouthful of liniment, which in color resembled
the cordial. I found her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in a state
of collapse.

"I'm poisoned!" she groaned. "Oh, Lizzie, I am not fit to die!"

I flew with the bottle to Tish, who was very calm and stealthily rubbing
one of her ankles.

"Do her good," Tish said. "Take some of the stiffness out of her liver,
for one thing. But you might keep an eye on her. It's full of alcohol."

"What's the antidote?" I asked, hearing Aggie's low groans.

"The gold cure is the only thing I can think of at the moment," said
Tish coldly, and started on the other ankle.

I merely record this incident to show the change in Tish. Aggie was not
seriously upset, although dizzy for an hour or so and very talkative,
especially about Mr. Wiggins.

Tish was changed. Her life, which mostly had been an open book to us,
became filled with mystery. There were whole days when she was not to be
located anywhe