at she could bear, and without saying another
word, rushed off, to bury her face in the sofa cushions, and smother
her frantic sobs from her mother's ears. It seemed to her absolutely
certain that Alma was going to die, and her mind filled with little
forgotten memories, each of which stabbed her with an agonizing pang of
misery.

The nurse, a very tall, strong, rosy woman named Miss Tracy, arrived
about noon-time and, quickly changing into her stiff white uniform,
ordered Mrs. Prescott off to lie down, telling Nancy that there was no
need for either of them to worry. Her presence, her brisk, thorough,
confident manner, lifted a hundred pounds from their hearts, and for
the first time in three days they drew a breath of relief. Mrs.
Prescott, who sadly needed sleep, lay down in her own room, and Nancy,
who had not been out of the house since Alma had fallen ill, took a
book and went out onto the porch to free her mind of worries that
seemed to have dulled her thoughts. Everything had become so
complicated, it was so utterly impossible to know what was to be done,
that she felt as if it were no use worrying, as if something unforeseen
would have to happen to solve difficulties that were absolutely beyond
their power to solve. And so she merely wondered idly how the nurse's
bills and the doctor's bills were to be paid. And finally, the warm
air and the whirr of the lawn-mower, and the sleepy hum in the vines,
made her drowsy; her eyelids fell, opened, and then closed again.

"Oh, yes, I'm a very great man. I know the King of England
intimately," someone who did not look at all _like_ Mr. Arnold, a fat,
pompous-looking man with mutton-chop whiskers, who, however, was Mr.
Arnold, kept repeating to her; and she kept wondering, "Why did I think
he was so nice? Why did I think he was good-looking?"

Then all at once she heard someone coming up the wooden steps of the
porch. She sat bolt upright, putting hasty hands to her tumbled, curly
hair, and with dazed, sleepy eyes stared at the newcomer with a
positively unintelligent expression of amazement. At length she
articulated, in an almost reproachful tone:

"I thought you were in Europe. You _were_ in Europe."

"Yes. But one doesn't have to stay in Europe, you know, unless they
put you in jail over there, and I always try to avoid that," returned
Mr. Arnold pleasantly.

"But you've been there for months," said Nancy, quite aware that she
wasn't talking perfec