-morrow might try his strength in a
short walk about the yard. His illness had been a severe attack of
measles, which he had doubtless contracted before his leaving home,
and lest he should carry the contagion to the "Lilies," Jim hadn't
been near the house-boat all this time. He had been worried about the
children of his hosts but the mother had calmly assured him:

"They won't take it. They've had it. They've had everything they could
in the way of diseases, but they always get well. I suppose that's
because they are never pampered nor overfed."

"I should think they weren't!" Jim had burst out, impulsively,
remembering the extremely meagre diet upon which they subsisted. In
his heart he wished they might have the chance of "pampering" for a
time, till their gaunt little faces filled out and grew rosy. He had
thought he knew what poverty was but he hadn't, really; until he
became an inmate of this cabin in the fields. To him it seemed
pitiful, when at meal time the scant portions of food were distributed
among the little brood, to see the eagerness of their eyes and the
almost ravenous clutch of the little tin plates as they were given
out. Even yet he had never seen his hostess eat. That she did so was
of course a fact, else she would have died; but the more generous
portions of the meal-pudding which were placed before him made him
feel that he was, indeed, "taking bread from the children's mouths,"
and from the mother's, as well.

Dr. Jabb had gone to the Water Lily, now peacefully moored in "the
loveliest spot on the earth," as Farmer "Wicky" had described it, and
reported Gerald's condition. He had also added:

"He won't need much nourishment till his fever goes down; then, Madam,
if you can manage it you'd best send food across to the cabin for him.
Let a messenger carry it to the entrance of the field and leave it
there, where the lad, Jim, can get it. May not be need for such
extreme precaution; but 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure.' Lucetta Stillwell is a noble woman, tied to a worthless husband
whom she adores. They must be terribly poor, though she's so proud
you'd never guess it from her manner. I gave it to Corny hot and
heavy, the other night, and at the time I felt every word I said. I
don't know. He's no more capable of doing a man's part in the world
than that young pickaninny yonder," pointing to Metty on the ground,
fascinated by the jabbering monkeys in their cage near-by.

Th