unheeded, but a kindly smile lit up his face when Dexie made her
appearance, looking as dainty as if right out of a band-box, and as she
drew on her gloves a handsome buggy drove up to the door.

Giving her father a hasty kiss, she whispered:

"I wish you were able to go in my place," then ran down the steps, and a
few minutes later the high-spirited horse carried them out of sight.

They did not return for some hours, and Dexie enjoyed the little excursion
exceedingly; she was grieved to find on her return that her father had
spent a very sick day, and she regretted leaving him for her own pleasure.

"You needed the change, my dear," her father assured her. "You are losing
your roses by waiting on me so constantly, and this hand is thinner than it
was six months ago," and he patted the hand that rested in his own.

Mr. Sherwood was daily growing weaker, and had to keep his bed the greater
part of the time. The old pain returned oftener, and was so very severe
while it lasted that it kept them all in a constant state of alarm. This so
worked on Mrs. Sherwood's nerves that her fancied illness threatened to
develop into something not quite so imaginative, and she required almost as
much care as her husband. It became necessary for Gussie to spend a part of
her time in her mother's room, and this she disliked very much, for Mrs.
Sherwood was not a patient sufferer, and Gussie chaffed and fretted against
the restraint to her liberty. Her extreme selfishness was so apparent that
her mother received her half-hearted services with little thanks.

The constant care and attention which divided Dexie's time between her
father's and her mother's room made it very hard to keep domestic matters
running smoothly, and Gussie's obstinate refusal to take any part of the
labor of the household or care of the children upon her own shoulders, gave
Dexie little chance to get the rest she needed. This was telling on her
health, and she was fast losing her rounded cheeks, and her eyes began to
look so large and black that it made Guy's heart ache to look at her. He
wished to tell Mrs. Sherwood of their engagement, and even attempted to
persuade Dexie into marrying him at once, so that he would have the right
to protect her against some of the needless burdens that were put upon her
young shoulders, but Dexie would not hear of it.

"Mother is aware that I expect to be married by and by; if she is making a
mistake as to the man let it be f