ving; she seemed to resent
my independence, my habit of judging for myself; she hated every detail
in which I differed from the girls she knew. If I had married and gone
to the Antipodes, she would have been quite satisfied, but----"

"Ah, why do people need human souls for their daily food?" cried Hadria
mournfully. She flung open the window of the bedroom, and looked out
over the deadly stillness of the fields and the heavy darkness. "But
they do need them," she said, in the same quiet, hopeless tone, "and
the souls have got to be provided."

"What is the time?" asked Algitha. A clock had struck, outside. "Could
it be the clock of Craddock church? The sound must have stolen down
hill, through the still air."

"It struck three."

"You ought to get some sleep," cried Algitha. "Remember what the doctor
said."

"I feel so nervous, so anxious. I could not sleep."

"Just for a few minutes," Algitha urged. Hadria consented at last, to go
into her room, which adjoined her sister's, and lie down on the bed. The
door was open between the rooms. "You must do the same," she stipulated.

There was silence for some minutes, but the silence swarmed with the
ghosts of voices. The air seemed thick with shapes, and terrors, and
strange warnings.

The doctor had not disguised the fact that the patient was fighting hard
for life, and that it was impossible to predict the result. Everything
depended on whether her strength would hold out. The weakness of the
heart was an unfortunate element in the case. To save strength and give
plentiful nourishment, without heightening the fever, must be the
constant effort. Algitha's experience stood her in good stead. Her
practical ability had been quickened and disciplined by her work. She
had trained herself in nursing, among other things.

Hadria's experience was small. She had to summon her intelligence to the
rescue. The Fullerton stock had never been deficient in this particular.
In difficult moments, when rule and tradition had done their utmost,
Hadria had often some original device to suggest, to fit the individual
case, which tided them over a crisis, or avoided some threatening
predicament.

"Are you sleeping?" asked Algitha, very softly.

"No," said Hadria; "I feel very uneasy to-night. I think I will go
down."

"Do try to get a little rest first, Hadria; your watch is next, and you
must not go to it fagged out."

"I know, but I feel full of dread. I _must_ just go and see