ith roguish Janie and chubby Rosslyn in tow, coming down
the slope toward them. Her round, serious eyes looked heavy and
worried, her childish face pale and frightened; but at sight of the two
approaching figures, a smile of relief suddenly curved the drooping
lips, and she exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, girls, I was just going for you!
Are you on the way to our house? Oh, please say yes! Something
dreadful has happened, I'm sure, for mamma has sent us all out-doors,
and is in the kitchen crying fit to kill. She won't say what's the
matter, and I'm horribly scared. I never saw her cry before."

Tabitha's face paled instantly. "I wonder--" she began, then stopped.
How could she put her thought into words when Mercedes was already so
dreadfully frightened? "Has the doctor been to see your father this
morning?" she asked.

"Yes. He stayed ever so long and talked to mamma in the kitchen. I am
afraid papa is worse, for 'twas right after the doctor was gone that
she began to cry so hard."

Tabitha turned to Gloriana. "I'll run on ahead," she said, "if you
don't mind. You can follow more slowly with Mercedes. I--perhaps it
would be better if I saw Mrs. McKittrick alone first."

"All right," agreed Glory, who, like Tabitha, was wondering if the
message the doctor had delivered in the Eagles' Nest that morning had
left the little mother without a ray of hope; and so she fell in step
beside the anxious Mercedes, and began to chat in spritely, diverting
tones while Tabitha sped swiftly up the narrow, winding path to the
lonely-looking, little, brown house perched on the steep mountainside.

Arriving at the door breathless and panting, she hesitated a moment
before knocking, suddenly aware that she had not the slightest idea of
what she intended to say or do. A glimpse through the screen of a
huddled figure bowed despairingly over the kitchen table drove every
other thought from her mind, however, and flinging open the door, she
ran lightly across the room and impulsively laid her hand upon the
quivering shoulders.

"Mercedes, must I tell you again--" began the muffled voice of the
distracted woman, as she impatiently shook off the hand resting on her
arm.

"It isn't Mercedes," Tabitha interrupted. "It is I--Tabitha. I don't
know what is the matter, but if you will tell me, perhaps I can be of
some use, even if I am only a girl."

Mrs. McKittrick lifted a red, swollen face from her arms outstretched
on the table,