, and
came backwards and forwards, bringing Poppy's mother tempting things to
eat, and carrying off dirty clothes to wash at home, or any little piece
of work which Poppy could not manage. And often, very often, one or
another of them would come and sit by the sick woman, or would carry off
the crying babies to their own homes, that she might have a little rest
and quiet.

[Illustration]

But, in spite of all this kind help, it was a very hard time for Poppy.
The neighbours had their own homes and their own families to attend to,
and could only give their spare time to the care of their sick
neighbour. And at night Poppy had a weary time of it. Her mother was
weak and restless, and full of fever and of pain, and she tossed about
on her pillow hour after hour, watching her good little daughter with
tears in her eyes, as she walked up and down with the babies, trying to
soothe them to sleep.

Sometimes she would try to sit up in bed, and hold little Enoch or
Elijah for a few moments: but she had become so terribly weak that the
effort was too much for her, and after a few minutes she would fall back
fainting on her pillow, and Poppy had to take the baby away and bathe
her mother's forehead with water before she could speak to her again.

So it was a weary and anxious time for the child. The neighbours said
she was growing an old grandmother, so careworn and anxious had she
become, and Poppy herself could hardly believe that she was the same
little girl who had gazed in the toy-shop window only a few months ago
and had longed for one of those beautiful wax-dolls. She felt too old
and tired ever to care to play again.

CHAPTER VII.

A VISIT FROM GRANDMOTHER.

The summer began very early that year, and it was the hottest summer
that Poppy had ever known. Even at the end of May and the beginning of
June the heat was so great that it made people ill and tired and cross.
Poppy's mother, who was never able to leave her bed, felt it very much.
The court was close and stifling, and the old window in the small
bedroom would only open a little way at the bottom, so that very little
air could get into the room, and the poor woman lay hour after hour
panting for breath, and almost fainting with the heat.

It was no easy time for Poppy. The neighbours were still very kind, but
the heat made them unable to do as much as before, and somehow
everybody's temper went wrong with the hot weather, and there was a good
deal o