which
the generous gift from the Watsons had made possible. They would go
just as soon as Libby Anne's cold got better now--the damp weather
would be over then.

The doctor's face was turned away. How' could he tell her? He could
not tell her here in this forsaken, desolate little house. "Come for
a drive, Mrs. Cavers," he said at last. "Let me take you and Libby
Anne over to see Mrs. Perkins and Martha. It will do you both good."

Mrs. Cavers gladly assented, but would going out hurt Libby Anne?

"Oh, no!" the doctor assured her, "the fresh air will do her good."

When they drove into the Perkins yard Martha and Mrs. Perkins warmly
welcomed them. The doctor had some calls to make across the river,
but he would be back in time to take them home before dark, he said.
When Mrs. Perkins had taken the visitors into the parlour the doctor
followed Martha into the kitchen. He would tell Martha, for Dr. Clay,
like every one else who knew her, had learned that Martha's quiet
ways were full of strength. Martha would know what to do.

He told her in a few words.

"Has she a chance?" asked Martha, quietly.

"She has a good chance," he answered. "It is only in an early stage,
but she must be put in a tent, kept in bed, and have plenty of
nourishing food; either that or she must be sent to a sanitarium."

"Where is there one?" Martha asked.

"At Gravenhurst, Muskoka."

"Oh, not among strangers!" she said quickly.

"But her mother can't be left alone with her," said the doctor.

Martha stood still for some moments with one hand on the tea-kettle's
shining lid. Then she spoke. "The tent can be put up here in our
yard," she said.

"Mother and I will help Mrs. Cavers. I'll ask father and mother, but
I'm sure they'll be willing. They never went back on a neighbour. We
must give Libby Anne her chance."

The doctor looked at her with admiration. "Will you tell Mrs. Cavers,
Martha? You're the best one to tell her."

"All right," she answered. "I will tell her."

The doctor drove away with a great reverence in his heart for the
quiet Martha. Pearl had told him about Martha's hopes and fears, and
the great ambition she had for an education. "She won't have much
time to improve her mind now," he said to himself. "She never
hesitated, though. She may not be acquainted with the binomial
theorem, but she has a heart of gold, and that's more important.
I wonder what Arthur is thinking. He's foolish to grieve for the
tow-haire