eared on the occasion of my first
visits, when there was doubt as to the character of the disease, passed
away, and never showed itself again during her daughter's illness. I
saw, daily, deeper into her character, which more and more impressed
me with its simple grandeur, if I may use the word in this connection.
There was nothing trifling, mean, or unwomanly about her. Her mind
seemed to rest with a profoundly rational, and at the same time
child-like trust, in Providence. Fear did not unnerve her, nor anxiety
stay her hands in any thing. She met me, at every visit, with dignified
self-possession, and received my report of the case, each time, without
visible emotion. I had not attempted to deceive her in any thing from
the beginning; she had seen this, and the fact gave her confidence in
all my statements touching her daughter's condition.

At the end of a week, I commenced giving stimulants, selecting, as the
chief article, sound old Maderia wine. The effect was soon apparent,
in a firmer pulse and a quickened vitality. The lethargic condition in
which she had lain for most of the time since the commencement of the
attack, began to give way, and in a much shorter period than is
usually the case, in this disease, we had the unmistakable signs of
convalescence.

"Thank God, who, by means of your skill, has given me back my precious
child!" said the mother to me, one day, after Blanche was able to sit
up in bed. She took my hand and grasped it tightly. I saw that she was
deeply moved. I merely answered:

"With Him are the issues of life."

"And I have tried to leave all with Him," she said. "To be willing to
suffer even that loss, the bare thought of which makes me shudder. But I
am not equal to the trial, and in mercy He has spared me."

"He is full of compassion, and gracious. He knows our strength, and will
not test it beyond the limits of endurance."

"Doctor," she said, a light coming into her face, "I have much to say to
you, but not now. I think you can understand me."

I merely bowed.

"There is one thing," she went on, "that I have liked in you from the
beginning. I am to you a total stranger, and my presence in this house
is a fact that must awaken many questions in your mind. Yet you have
shown no restless curiosity, have plied me with no leading questions,
have left me free to speak, or keep silence. There is a manly courtesy
about this that accords with my feelings."

I bowed again, but did not v