ehensive of its effect upon the latter. The moment we
were alone Eveena said--

"I have never seen illness, but if Eunane is not ill, and very ill,
all I have gathered in my father's household from such books as he has
allowed me, and from his own conversation, deceives me wholly; and yet
no illness of which I have ever heard in the slightest degree
resembles this."

"I take it to be," I said, "what on Earth women call hysteria and men
temper."

To this opinion, however, I could not adhere when, watching her
closely, I noticed the evident lack of spirit and strength with which
the most active and energetic member of the household went about her
usual pursuits. A terrible suspicion at first entered my mind, but was
wholly discountenanced by Eveena, who insisted that there was no
conceivable motive for an attempt to injure Eunane; while the idea
that mischief designed for others had unintentionally fallen on her
was excluded by the certainty that, whatever the nature of her
illness, if it were such, it had commenced before our return. Long
before evening I had communicated with Esmo, and received from him a
reply which, though exceedingly unsatisfactory, rather confirmed
Eveena's impression. The latter had taken upon herself the care of the
evening meal; but, before we could meet there, my own observation had
suggested an alarm I dared not communicate to her--one which a wider
experience than hers could neither verify nor dispel. Among symptoms
wholly alien, there were one or two which sent a thrill of terror to
my heart;--which reminded me of the most awful and destructive of the
scourges wherewith my Eastern life had rendered me but too familiar.
It was not unnatural that, if carried to a new world, that fearful
disease should assume a new form; but how could it have been conveyed?
how, if conveyed, could its incubation in some unknown vehicle have
been so long? and how had it reached one, and one only, of my
household--one, moreover, who had no access to such few relics of my
own world as I had retained, of which Eveena had the exclusive charge?
All Esmo's knowledge, even were he within reach, could hardly help me
here. I dared, of course, suggest my apprehension to no one, least of
all to the patient herself. As, towards evening, her languor was again
exchanged for the feverish excitement of the previous night, I seized
on some petulant word as an excuse to confine her to her room, and,
selfishly enough, resolved