ring the journey,
and, after a most distressing delay at Kansas City, she finally reached
Leavenworth at midnight, May 14, and was gladly received by her brother
who had watched the clock and counted her progress every hour. The
shooting had grown out of some criticisms in his paper. The ball had
fractured the clavicle and severed the subclavian artery. His devoted
wife and brother Merritt were in constant attendance.

Then began the long struggle for life. For nine weeks Miss Anthony sat
by his bedside giving the service of a born nurse, added to the
gentleness of a loving sister. At the end of the first month the
physicians decided on a continued pressure upon the artery above the
wound to prevent the constant rush of blood into the aneurism which had
formed. Owing to its peculiar position this could be done only by
pressing the finger upon it, and so the family and friends took turns
day and night, sitting by the patient and pressing upon this vital
spot. After five weeks, to the surprise of the whole medical
fraternity, the experiment proved a success and recovery was no longer
doubtful. The papers were filled with glowing accounts of Miss
Anthony's devotion, seeming to think it wonderful that a woman whose
whole life had been spent in public work should possess in so large a
degree not only sisterly affection but the accomplishments of a trained
nurse.[84]

Miss Anthony took back to Rochester her little four-year-old niece and
namesake, Susie B., and many touching entries in her journal show how
closely the child entwined itself about her heart. She found that Lydia
Mott still lived, and, allowing herself only two days' rest after all
the hard weeks of physical and mental strain, she went to Albany to
stay with her friend till the end came, a month later. The diary of
August 20 says: "There passed out of my life today the one who, next to
my own family, has been the nearest and dearest to me for thirty
years."

On October 2, 1875, she heard Frances E. Willard lecture for the first
time, and comments, "A lovely, spirited and spiritual woman,
characterized by genuine Christian simplicity." Miss Anthony was a
guest with Miss Willard at the home of Professor and Mrs. Lattimore.
When they reached the hall Miss Willard asked her to sit on the
platform, but Miss Anthony declined, saying, "No, you have a heavy
enough load to carry without taking me." November 4 Miss Anthony gave
her lecture on "Social Purity" in Roches