knee-foot_,' came down so long, it
_more_ than touched the floor."

The doctor looked sober. The foot did drag indeed. The trouble was not
in her knee, but in her hip, which had really been injured when she fell
down stairs, and the "prongs" of the chair were forced against it.

It seemed to Mrs. Parlin strange that Prudy had never complained of any
pain in her side; but the doctor said it was very common for people to
suffer from hip-disease, and seem to have only a lame knee.

"Hip-disease!" When Mrs. Parlin heard these words, she grew so dizzy,
that it was all she could do to keep from fainting. It came over her in
a moment, the thought of what her little daughter would have to
suffer--days and nights of pain, and perhaps a whole lifetime of
lameness. She had often heard of hip-disease, and was aware that it is a
very serious thing.

Do you know, she would gladly have changed places with Prudy, would
gladly have borne all the child must suffer, if by that means she could
have saved her? This is the feeling which mothers have when any trouble
comes upon their children; but the little ones, with their simple minds,
cannot understand it.

CHAPTER VI.

ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY.

Prudy had enjoyed a great many rides in Susy's beautiful sleigh; but now
the doctor forbade her going out, except for very short distances, and
even then, he said, she must sit in her mother's lap. He wanted her to
lie down nearly all the time, and keep very quiet.

At first, Mrs. Parlin wondered how it would be possible to keep such a
restless child quiet; but she found, as time passed, and the disease
made progress, that poor little Prudy was only too glad to lie still.
Every motion seemed to hurt her, and sometimes she cried if any one
even jarred the sofa suddenly.

These were dark days for everybody in the house. Susy, who was
thoughtful beyond her years, suffered terribly from anxiety about her
little sister. More than that, she suffered from remorse.

"O, grandma Read," said she one evening, as she sat looking up at the
solemn, shining stars, with overflowing eyes--"O, grandma!" The words
came from the depths of a troubled heart. "I may live to be real old;
but I never shall be happy again! I can't, for, if it hadn't been for
me? Prudy would be running round the house as well as ever!"

Mrs. Read had a gentle, soothing voice. She could comfort Susy when
anybody could. Now she tried to set her heart at rest by saying t