g and exchanging his dressing-gown for
a coat, and drawing on his boots. "I will go as soon as my horse is
ready."

Orders were sent out to put the horse to the sleigh. This was quickly
done, and the doctor, fully accoutered, walked to the door.

"I shall be back as soon as I can, Mary," he said.

"That won't be very soon. It is a good two-miles' ride."

"I shan't loiter on the way, you may be sure of that. Abner, I am
ready."

The snow was still falling, but not quite so fast as early in the
afternoon. The wind, however, blew quite as hard, and the doctor found
all his wrappings needful.

At intervals on the road he came to deep drifts of snow through which
the horse had some difficulty in drawing the sleigh, but at length he
arrived at the door of his patient. He found that the violence of her
attack was over, and, satisfied of this, left a few simple directions,
which he considered sufficient. Nature would do the rest.

"Now for home!" he said to himself. "I hope this will be my last
professional call this evening. Mary will be impatient for my return."

He gave the reins to his horse, who appeared to feel that he was bound
homeward, and traveled with more alacrity than he had come.

He, too, no doubt shared the doctor's hope that this was the last
service required of him before the morrow.

Doctor Drayton had completed rather more than half his journey, when,
looking to the right, his attention was drawn to a small, dark object,
nearly covered with snow.

Instinctively he reined up his horse.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed, "it must be a boy. God grant he is not
frozen!"

He leaped from his sleigh, and lifted the insensible body.

"It is an Italian boy, and here is his violin. The poor child may be
dead," he said to himself in a startled tone. "I must carry him home,
and see what I can do for him."

So he took up tenderly our young hero--for our readers will have guessed
that it was Phil--and put both him and his violin into the sleigh. Then
he drove home with a speed which astonished even his horse, who, though
anxious to reach his comfortable stable, would not voluntarily have put
forth so great an exertion as was now required of him.

I must explain that Phil had for the last ten days been traveling about
the country, getting on comfortably while the ground was bare of snow.
To-day, however, had proved very uncomfortable. In the city the snow
would have been cleared off, and would not have inte