am," she said, eagerly, "can you doubt my discretion when you know,
too, what your own promises have been now and long ago--to divide with
me, ay, to the last cent, like a sister? Now, I insist on the drops! You
are pale again, Miriam--collapsing visibly in my sight. Do take your
remedy--so efficacious of late in warding off these distressing attacks.
I have taken the trouble, too, to go after them. I was at some pains in
hunting them up; they were not in the usual place. Come, now, as a
punishment for your carelessness, I proclaim myself dictator, and
command you to swallow them at once," and she poured the medicine into a
spoon.

"No, Evelyn," I averred, putting the spoon aside, "I am better without
the drops. I wish to see what my unaided _will_ and constitution can do,
this time."

"There is too much at stake to depend on these, Miriam. We must unearth
this treasure-trove to-morrow at daylight, and defeat Bainrothe on his
own grounds, or he may be beforehand with us. Take your drops, dear, and
have a good night's rest, and be ready for the contest. There, now, that
is a good sister," embracing me tenderly.

Persuasion and reason accomplished with me what _commands_ could not
have done. I took the drops, went quietly to bed, and was soon lost to a
sense of misfortunes, hopes, and the world itself.

I slept profoundly and long. When I awoke, the slant rays of the evening
sun were pouring through the blinds of my window, in lines of moted
light. Mrs. Austin was sitting close to the sash, with her invariable
knitting-work, her aquiline profile and frilled cap strongly relieved
against the jalousied shutters.

On the mantel-piece were the inevitable spirit-lamp and bowl of panada,
recognized at once as part and parcel of my malady. In the chamber the
usual smell of ether, the remedy so often ineffectually administered
during the period of my lethargic attacks.

I understood everything now--I had experienced another seizure, and I
had lost a day.

Whether it was this conviction that cleared my brain at once of those
mephitic fogs that usually clung around it after a spell of lethargy,
long after my consciousness returned, I never knew, but certain it is, I
sat up in my bed like one refreshed by sleep, instead of feeling
exhausted, and, greatly to her surprise, accosted Mrs. Austin in clear,
strong accents.

"How long have I slept? And where is Evelyn?" I asked.

"You have not opened your eyes to-day, dear child