e. She was confined to the house for nearly three weeks
last month, with some sort of illness that the doctor did not seem to
understand, and at one time I was much frightened, and very, very
anxious about her, she became so weak. It would have made your heart
glad to have seen the tender way in which papa nursed her through the
illness. I had fancied that he was the very last man in the world to
make a sick-nurse, so bold and quick in his movements, and with such a
loud, gruff voice--for it _is_ gruff, although very sweet at the same
time. But the moment he began to tend mamma he spoke more softly even
than dear Mr Addison does, and he began to walk about the house on
tiptoe, and persevered so long in this latter that all his moccasins
began to be worn out at the toes, while the heels remained quite
strong. I begged of him often not to take so much trouble, as _I_ was
naturally the proper nurse for mamma; but he wouldn't hear of it, and
insisted on carrying breakfast, dinner, and tea to her, besides giving
her all her medicine. He was for ever making mistakes, however, much
to his own sorrow, the darling man; and I had to watch him pretty
closely, for more than once he has been on the point of giving mamma a
glass of laudanum in mistake for a glass of port wine. I was a good
deal frightened for him at first, as, before he became accustomed to
the work, he tumbled over the chairs and tripped on the carpets while
carrying trays with dinners and breakfasts, till I thought he would
really injure himself at last; and then he was so terribly angry with
himself at making such a noise and breaking the dishes--I think he has
broken nearly an entire dinner and tea set of crockery. Poor George,
the cook, has suffered most from these mishaps--for you know that dear
papa cannot get angry without letting a _little_ of it out upon
somebody; and whenever he broke a dish or let a tray fall, he used to
rush into the kitchen, shake his fist in George's face, and ask him,
in a fierce voice, what he meant by it. But he always got better in a
few seconds, and finished off by telling him never to mind, that he
was a good servant on the whole, and he wouldn't say any more about it
just now, but he had better look sharp out and not do it again. I
must say, in praise of George, that on such occasions he looked very
sorry indeed, and said he hoped that he would always do