ner--the result of his
trouble, no doubt. We were in their little sitting-room or parlor, but
the door into the kitchen, where they had been taking their meal, was
open. The room we were in was very plainly furnished, but perfectly
neat, and I was at once struck by the number of books that it
contained. Would you believe it? one of the leading magazines lay on
the table. The mother, a pale, gaunt woman, who looked utterly
worn out, went with the doctor to the adjoining sick-room, and the
husband's eyes followed them anxiously.

"'Your place seems rather lonely,' I said to him, 'but you evidently
know how to find society in books.'

"'Yes,' he answered, 'I s'pose this region seems lonesome to you, but
not to us who were brought up here. It all depends on what you're
used to, especially when you're a-growin' up. I'm not much of a reader
myself, but Tilly was'; and he heaved a great sigh. 'She took to
readin' almost as soon as to walkin',' he continued, 'and used to read
aloud to us. I s'pose I soon dozed off, but her mother took it all in,
and durin' the long winter evenin's they kinder roamed all over the
world together. I suspicion Tilly had more books than was good for
her, but she was our only child, and I couldn't say no to her. She
edicated herself to be a teacher, and stood high, and we was proud of
her, sure enough, but I'm afeared all that study and readin' wasn't
good for her;' and then came another of his deep sighs.

"Madge's great eyes meanwhile were more and more full of trouble,
and there was a deal of pathos suggested by the man's simple story.
Indeed, I felt my own throat swelling at the poor man's last sigh,
it was so deep and natural, and seemed to express a great sorrow, for
which there were no words in his homely vernacular."

"What selfish egotists we are over our picayune vexations!" Graydon
muttered.

"Well, the mother and the doctor now appeared. The latter looked
grave; and when he looks grave things are serious indeed.

"'Ain't she no better?' the father asked, with entreaty in his tone.

"'I wish she was,' said the doctor, in his blunt way, which
nevertheless expressed more sympathy than a lot of fine phrases. Then
he said to the mother: 'You're all worn out, and yet she'll need close
watching to-night. Isn't there some neighbor--'

"'Oh, please let me stay!' began Madge, in a low, eager tone, speaking
for the first time. 'I'm strong, and I'll follow your directions in
everything. Do,