the doctor says; an' I say it jist
looks like as if she was too stubborn to quit bein' sick, now she's
started. If yous folks hadn't gone gallivantin' off down the crick
that day this would never 'a' happened. Arabella's too old for such
foolishness, anyhow. Well, I'll run home. Tell her I'll be back in an
hour or so an' shake out the mats."

Elsie went into the spare bedroom, where Miss Arabella lay, propped up
on pillows. Her little, wan face brightened at the sight of her
visitor.

"Oh, Elsie, is it you? It's good o' you to come." She looked
anxiously past her. "Where's Susan?"

"She's gone home, and I'm going to sit with you till she comes back."

Miss Arabella tried not to look relieved. "D'ye think it would hurt me
much to have the curtains put back, Elsie? I'd love to see out."

"Of course not. You shall have the window taken right out if you want
it." The girl rolled up the green paper blind, pushed back the stiff
lace curtains, and opened the window from the top. It was a perfect
October day, and Miss Arabella felt the gentle breeze, and saw the
sumach at her gate, a patch of vivid scarlet against the deep blue of
the sky. At a corner of the window the boughs of an old apple-tree,
still green, looked in and nodded in a friendly manner. The invalid
looked bright and interested for a few minutes, then sighed and grew
wan and listless again.

Elsie pulled her chair up close to the bedside.

"Arabella, dear," she said earnestly, "what is the matter with you?"

"I--I--guess it's jist that cold I caught, hangin' on. Susan says it
is."

"Dr. Allen doesn't think so. He says he doesn't know what is making
you ill, and Susan doesn't know, and I don't know. But you do,
Arabella, and, oh, I wish you'd tell me!"

She put her two strong, young hands over the thin little one lying on
the coverlid. Her deep eyes were full of sympathy. A slow flush rose
into Miss Arabella's face. She turned away from the girl's steady gaze.

"Elsie," she whispered, "he's right. There--there is something the
matter with me, and I--I think--I'm pretty sure--I'm going to die."

"No, no, Arabella! You mustn't say that--you really mustn't!"

The invalid was perfectly calm. "I think I am, though," she said
quietly. "It's about the best thing I can do now, since----" She
paused and turned away her head again.

Elsie slipped to her knees by the bedside. "Won't you tell me what is
wrong, Arabella?" she whisper