alking to Miss B., I heard Mrs. B. tell my mother this awful thing.
You know Mr. B.'s sister is a trained nurse (I never did believe in
trained nurses!) and when he was taken so ill they sent for her to
come and take care of him. She got along tolerably well until a few
days ago when the doctor prescribed quinine for Mr. B. By mistake, she
gave him ten grains of morphine."

"What!"

"Yes, my dear, she did! It seems like an immense quantity, but, as I
wanted to be accurate (I always say that accuracy is a Christian
duty), I asked Miss B. how many grains her father took, and she said
'Ten!' Well! the poor victim slept thirty hours, and they were so
frightened that they sent for the doctor. He said that, fortunately,
no harm was done, but that it was an unpardonable piece of
carelessness. They discharged the nurse forthwith. She ought to have
been arrested and punished,--not turned loose upon a confiding
community."

"Yet you say she is his own sister?"

"Yes, indeed! and the family have always been perfectly devoted to
her! But they have sent her to the right-about now. It is too bad! A
family row is such an unfortunate thing. They may be thankful not to
have a murder-case to deal with!"

Strangely enough, I was _en route_ for the house of my friend, Mrs.
B., and as the car, at this juncture, crossed the street on which she
lived, I motioned to the conductor to ring the bell, and alighted
before hearing more of that remarkable tale. Being acquainted with the
whole matter as it actually occurred, I was amused and indignant, as
well as curious, to learn how this girl had received the wretchedly
garbled version of an affair, the facts of which were these:

When Mr. B. was suddenly prostrated by an alarming attack of
pneumonia, his sister, a noble woman who had taken up as her life-work
the duties of a trained nurse in a Boston hospital, was telegraphed
for. As she had a serious case in charge, it was impossible to obey
the summons, and a New York nurse was engaged. Mr. B.'s physician had,
early in his illness, prepared some powders, each containing a minute
portion of morphine, and several had been administered to the patient.
Of late, he had taken five grains of quinine each morning. A few days
before the above mentioned harangue, the doctor ordered the nurse to
double the usual dose of quinine. She, carelessly, or misunderstanding
the directions, gave two of the morphine powders. The dose was not
large enough to ca