eive that it was more than
a passing ailment, and would soon disappear. The family became vaguely
uneasy as the spring merged into the summer, and a plan was proposed for
the plump little five-foot "wifey" to take her big husband, the Captain,
on a long trip to the seashore and mountains.

The trip had been taken, but Captain Gordon's condition did not show
the improvement that the anxious members of his family had so earnestly
hoped to see, and after the return the busy little wife immediately set
about securing a couch for his office, for the invalid insisted that
he was able to resume his duties. She explained that "the Captain
might rest a little now and then from his labors," for the sturdy old
soldier would not for a moment entertain the thought of giving up his
work--the loved, chosen profession which he had followed so faithfully
and successfully since he came out--a gallant young officer of
twenty-three--from the Civil War, the sole survivor of the four members
of his household who had gone forth to fight for what was to be the
Lost Cause.

Everything at the office was made especially comfortable, for how
willingly would every one have spared the quiet, kind professor, who
combined so wonderfully strength and manliness with gentleness and
lovableness of disposition.

The experiment lasted one week--he came home at the close of the sixth
day and said quietly, "I must get a substitute until I am well enough to
attend to my work as it should be done." So the substitute was secured
and a consultation of doctors followed, with the result that a new line
of treatment had been adopted. A few weeks failed to bring good results,
so other treatments had been tried, until, a few weeks before, a skilled
specialist had ordered him off to the infirmary for a period of several
weeks.

The days spent here were days of great suffering, but grandfather was a
man of monumental patience, and no word of complaint passed his lips. It
was just at this time that a crushing blow had been dealt the hopeful,
cheery little wifey, who had always been laughingly termed "boss of the
ranch," "head of the house," and suchlike terms, but whose right to
these titles had never been disputed by the indulgent husband or devoted
sons and daughters, for her ready hand always carried with it relief,
and her merry laugh brought cheer and sunshine.

Her only brother had been stricken, and died within a few days, but the
brave little wife and mothe