hed. Lilac cast one glance at her and
then looked round the room. There were some white ashes on the hearth,
a kettle hanging over them by its chain, and at Mrs Wishing's elbow
stood an earthenware teapot, from which came a faint sickly smell; and
when Lilac saw that she nodded to herself, for she knew what it meant.
The next moment the sleeper opened her large grey eyes and gazed
vacantly at her visitor.

"It's me," said Lilac. "It's Lilac White."

Mrs Wishing still gazed without speaking; there was an unearthly
flickering light in her eyes. At last she muttered indistinctly:

"You're just like her."

Not in the least alarmed or surprised at this condition, Lilac glanced
at the teapot and said reproachfully:

"You've been drinking poppy tea, and you promised Mother you wouldn't do
it no more."

Mrs Wishing struggled feebly against the drowsiness which overpowered
her, and murmured apologetically:

"I didn't go to do it, but it seemed as if I couldn't bear the pain."

Lilac set down her basket, and opened the door of a cupboard near the
chimney corner.

"Where's your kindlin's?" she asked. "I'll make you a cup of real tea,
and that'll waken you up a bit. And Uncle Joshua's sent you a morsel of
chicken."

"Ha'n't got no kindlin's and no tea," murmured Mrs Wishing. "Give me a
drink o' water from the jug yonder."

No tea! That was an unheard-of thing. As Lilac brought the water she
said indignantly:

"Where's Mr Wishing then? He hadn't ought to go and leave you like
this without a bit or a drop in the house."

Mrs Wishing seemed a little refreshed by the water and was able to
speak more distinctly. She sat up in her chair and made a few listless
attempts to fasten up her hair and put herself to rights.

"'Tain't Dan'l's fault this time," she said; "he's up in the woods
felling trees for a week. They're sleeping out till the job's done. He
did leave me money, and I meant to go down to the shop. But then I took
bad and I couldn't crawl so far, and nobody didn't pass."

"And hadn't you got nothing in the house?" asked Lilac.

"Only a crust a' bread, and I didn't seem to fancy it. I craved so for
a cup a' tea. And I had some dried poppy heads by me. So I held out as
long as I could, and nobody didn't come. And this morning I used my
kindlin's and made the tea. And when I drank it I fell into a blessed
sleep, and I saw lots of angels, and their harps was sounding beautiful
in my head all