e doctor.

"Where is Mostyn?" asked Sylvia.

"It is away in the back country, about fifty miles from everywhere, I
imagine. It is a boom town; that is to say, they have found gold there
in paying quantities, and so it will grow like a mushroom until the gold
gives out, and then, unless they come across anything else of value, it
will fizzle out as rapidly as it sprang to life. It is a little way we
have of doing things in this part of the world," said the doctor as he
finished his supper, and then he asked, in a tone of grave concern:
"Pray, where can you go to sleep? There is certainly no sense in your
sitting up all night. Your sister will stay up to help me with the sick
boy, and then in the morning she will want to rest, and you must be
ready to take her place."

"Oh, I can sit round in a chair and doze a little when I am not wanted!"
replied Sylvia in that happy-go-lucky way she had of saying things, and
which as a rule no one heeded. But the doctor frowned heavily as he
said: "That will not do at all; young people cannot get on without
proper sleep, and you must be fresh and fit to take your sister's place
in the morning, for your brother is going to want a lot of nursing to
pull him through. What have you done with the younger children?"

"We put them to bed in the wagon. It is just outside, you know, and we
thought that they would be out of the way," answered Sylvia.

"An excellent idea. Now suppose that you go and put yourself to bed
with them, and they will be sure to wake you bright and early in the
morning," he said, smiling now, because there really seemed a way out of
the difficulty.

"But you will want someone to keep the fire in for you to-night,"
protested Sylvia, who did not like the idea of being sent off to bed
with the children, even though she was so sleepy that she could scarcely
keep her eyes open.

"That other brother of yours will do that for me. What is his name, by
the way?" asked the doctor, as Rumple disappeared from the room in
search of more firewood.

"He is Dalrymple, only we always call him Rumple, because it suits him
so well and is affectionate too. But you will certainly never keep him
awake. He will mean not to go to sleep, for he is really a very good
sort, and crammed full of the best intentions, but he simply can't keep
his eyes open when he is very tired; so presently, when you least expect
it, he will just double up and fall asleep, and you will not be able to
wake h