tself. As I stood and gazed upon the infinite beauty of the
scene, I felt, as never in my life before, how helpless is Nature in the
presence of a great trouble. The beauty of the night was fully matched
by that of the morning. As the first rays of the sun crossed the
mountains and shone down upon the valley, I said to myself, even while
my heart was racked with anxious foreboding--"How wonderful! How
wonderful!"

_Monday, Aug. 12th._--For some hours she seemed much more comfortable,
and, in the course of the morning, of her own accord, was removed from
the chair to the bed. "On Monday morning (writes Dr. Wyman) I found her
with temperature nearly normal, pulse less than 100, and other symptoms
improved. This gave us hope that the worst was passed, but it was only
the lull before the storm." She was for the most part quiet and took
little notice of anything that was going on. During the forenoon M.
tried to get some rest in the sea-chair by the window, while Hatty kept
her place by the bed. Several times Lizzy looked round the room as if
in quest of some one. Hatty perceiving this and guessing what it meant,
stepped aside (she was between the bed and the chair so as to intercept
the view), when she fixed her eyes upon M. and rested as if she had
found what she sought. Having been up most of the night, I also tried
to get a little rest in another room, and later went out in search of
a nurse and engaged an excellent one, Mrs. C., who came early in the
afternoon.

Notwithstanding my deep anxiety I was deceived by the more favorable
symptoms, and did not allow myself, during the day, to think she would
not recover. In the early evening I wrote to A., who was absent in
Maine:

I am sorry to say that your mother had a very trying day yesterday and
has been extremely weak and exhausted to-day.... Nervous prostration
appears to be the great trouble. She has rested quietly much of the time
to-day and the medicines seem to be doing their work; and in a couple of
days, I trust, she may be greatly improved. You know how these ill-turns
upset her and how quickly she often rallies from them. She is very
anxious you should not shorten your visit on her account.

Soon after this letter was written, the whole aspect of the case
suddenly changed. The unfavorable symptoms had returned with renewed
violence. Dr. W. asked her, during one of the paroxysms, about the pain.
She answered that it was not a pain--it was a distress, an _agony