"I am very glad, daughter," he replied; "you have had a long sleep; and
now I will take you on my knee, and Aunt Chloe will bring up your
dinner."

Elsie's appetite was poor, and her father spared neither trouble nor
expense in procuring her every dainty that could be thought of which was
at all suited to her state of health, and he was delighted when he could
tempt her to eat with tolerable heartiness. She seemed to enjoy her
dinner, and he watched her with intense pleasure.

"Can I see Lora now, papa?" she asked, when Chloe had removed the dishes.

"Yes," he said. "Aunt Chloe, you may tell Miss Lora that we are ready to
receive her now."

Lora came in quite gay and full of spirits; but when she caught sight of
Elsie, lying so pale and languid in her father's arms, she had hard work
to keep from bursting into tears, and could scarcely command her voice to
speak.

"Dear Lora, I am so glad to see you," said the little girl, holding out
her small, thin hand.

Lora took it and kissed it, saying, in a tremulous tone, "How ill you
look!"

Elsie held up her face, and Lora stooped and kissed her lips; then
bursting into tears and sobs, she ran out of the room.

"Oh, Adelaide!" she cried, rushing into her sister's room, "how she is
changed! I should never have known her! Oh! do you think she can ever
get well?"

"If you had seen her two or three weeks ago, you would be quite
encouraged by her appearance now," replied her sister. "The doctor
considers her out of danger now, though he says she must have careful
nursing; and that I assure you she gets from her father. He seems to
feel that he can never do enough for her, and won't let me share the
labor at all, although I would often be very glad to do it."

"He _ought_ to do all he can for her! he would be a _brute_ if he
didn't, for it was all his doing, her being so ill!" exclaimed Lora
indignantly. "No, no; I ought not to say that," she added, correcting
herself immediately, "for we were _all_ unkind to her; I as well as the
rest. Oh, Adelaide! what a bitter thought that was to me when I heard she
was dying! I never realized before how lovely, and how very different
from all the rest of us she was."

"Yes, poor darling! she has had a hard life amongst us," replied
Adelaide, sighing, while the tears rose to her eyes. "You can never know,
Lora, what an agonizing thought it was at the moment when I believed that
she had left us forever. I would have given worlds to