Effie's little room faced the east. She never drew down her blind at
night, and the sun was shining all over her face when her mother came in
the next morning to call her.
Mrs. Staunton, standing in her nightdress in the middle of the room,
called Effie in a shrill voice.
"What in the world is the matter?" said her daughter, sitting up, and
pushing back her hair from her eyes.
"What I feared," said Mrs. Staunton. "I am not going to break down;
don't think it for a minute. I am as well as possible." She trembled all
over as she spoke. There was a purple spot on one cheek, the other was
deadly pale. A blue tint surrounded her lips. "I am perfectly well,"
continued Mrs. Staunton, breathing in a labored way. "It is only that I
have got a bit of a---- Your father is ill, Effie. He has got
it--the--dip--dip--diphtheria. He is almost choking. Get up, child; get
up."
"Yes, mother," said Effie.
She tumbled out of bed. Her pretty cheeks were flushed with sleep; her
eyes, bright and shining, turned toward the eastern light for a moment.
"Oh, mother," she said, with a sudden burst of feeling, "do, do let us
keep up our courage! Nothing will save him if we lose our courage,
mother."
"We won't," said Mrs. Staunton; "and that's what I came to speak about.
He must have good nursing--the very best. Effie, I want you to get Miss
Fraser to come here."
"Miss Fraser! But will she leave little Freda Harvey?"
"She must leave her--the child is completely out of danger--anyone can
nurse her now. She must leave her and come here, and you must go and
fetch her. Your father may lose his life in the cause of that little
child. There is not a moment to lose--get up, Effie. You can go at once
to The Grange. Go, go quickly and bring Dorothy Fraser. We none of us
can nurse him as she will. She will do it. He has been murmuring in his
sleep about her, about something she did for little Freda, clasping his
throat all the time and suffocating. One glance showed me what ailed him
when I awoke this morning. He has a hard fight before him, but he must
not die--I tell you, child, your father must not die!"
"No, no, mother! God will spare him to us," said Effie. Tears dimmed her
eyes, she got quickly into her clothes.
"Now, I will go," she said. "I will bring Dorothy back with me."
"If there is any difficulty," said Mrs. Staunton, "if she hesitates for
a moment, you must remember, there is only one thing to be done."
"Yes, mother; what do you mean?"
"You must offer to nurse Freda Harvey instead of her--do you
understand?"
"And I am not to come back to father when he is ill?" said Effie,
aghast.
"That is not the point," exclaimed Mrs. Staunton. "The only thing to be
considered is, what will save him, and you and I, and our feelings, are
of no consequence. His life is so valuable that no sacrifice is too
great to keep it. Go, child, go. If you can come back, come--if not,
stay."
"And who will manage the children--they ought not to remain in the
house."
"Don't worry about the children. Get Dorothy as quickly as possible."
Effie buttoned her dress and pinned on her hat, and then went out on the
landing.
"Where are you going, child? Why don't you go downstairs?"
"I must kiss father first."
"What folly!--why should there be this delay?"
"I won't be a minute."
Effie turned the handle of the bedroom door, and went softly into the
room. Her father was lying on his back--there was a livid look about his
face. Great beads of perspiration stood on his brow. His eyes were
closed. He did not see Effie when she came into the room, but when she
bent down and kissed his forehead, he opened his eyes and looked at her.
He said something which she could not distinguish--he was too hoarse to
make any words articulate.
"I am going for Dorothy," she said, with a smile,--"she'll soon make you
better,--good-by. God bless you--father. I love you--father, I love
you."
His eyes smiled at her, but his lips could not speak.
She went quickly out of the room.