say that I'm risponsible."

Phillida shuddered, and made a motion as of drawing her sack more
closely about her.

"Though for that matter," Martin went on, "Tommy's kind of settled the
thing himself. He declared up and down that he didn't want Miss Bowyer,
and he declared up and down he didn't want a man doctor. What he wanted
was Dick's Sunday-school teacher. And neither one of us kind of liked to
refuse him anything, seeing he's sick; and so that kind of settled it.
And so the risponsibility'll be--I don't know where--unless it's on
you."

Phillida found Tommy in a state of restlessness and dullness,
complaining of difficulty in swallowing. Mrs. Martin was uneasy lest
there should be something malignant about the attack; but to Phillida
the case seemed an ordinary one, not likely to prove serious. She held
Tommy in her arms for a while and this was a solace to the little
fellow. Then she prayed with him, and at half-past nine she returned
home leaving Tommy sleeping quietly. When she neared her own door she
suddenly bethought her that she had not seen the other children. She
turned to Mr. Martin, who was walking by her side in silence and with a
measured stride that would have been very becoming to an undertaker, but
with which Phillida found it quite impossible to keep step.

"I didn't see the rest of the children, Mr. Martin; where are they?" she
asked.

"Well, a neighbor acrost the street come over to-day and took 'em away.
She didn't know but it might be dip'thery."

"Have you had any diphtheria in your neighborhood?"

"Well, yes; the caretaker of our flats down on the first floor of the
next house lost a child last week by a belief in dip'thery. The neighbor
acrost the street thought Tommy might have got it, but we didn't believe
it. But it made mother kind of uneasy, and she wanted to see you or a
doctor to-night. For my part, I knew that it was the talk of the
infant-class teacher that was at the bottom of it, dip'thery or not. Sin
oughtn't to be mentioned to a child. It's likely to break out into a
belief about sickness."

Phillida's spirits suddenly sank to zero. Alarm at the responsibility
she had taken got the better of her faith by surprise, and she said:

"Mr. Martin, get a doctor. It may be diphtheria."

"Why, what if it is?" said Mr. Martin. "It's better to treat it on a
spiritual plane. No, I'm not a-going back on my faith in the very words
of the Bible."

"But, Mr. Martin, I don't feel