The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1926-10-07

llNlHR-TOoln, cueehs seoiiCts y
/, blazing. Suddenly she dropped OF
her knees by the window and LITE
her clasped hands to the stars.
"Godl God, up there3" sh
called. IF You let her die, II
never pray to You again! Never
I warned You when You let mothe
die y
She remained a moment on he
knees. staring at the stars whil'
fragments of Sunday school lori
flashed through her mind. lou
Father, who art in heaven" sht
said. mo, that won't do. Suffer
little children TO come unto me. Oh
no. no."
The door opened and Lizzie came
out, tears running down her cheeks
Lydia flew to her.
"They say / got to tell you. Diph
theritic croup-her lungs is full
no hope"
Lydia struck the kind old hand
from her shoulder and dashed out
of the house. She ran through the
snow to a giant pine by the gate
and beat her fists against 1t for
how long she did not know. Pain
In her bruised hands and the in
tense cold finally brought her to
her senses. A s~elf-control that was
partly inherent and partly the re-
suit of too early knowledge Of grief
came to her rescue. With a long
sigh. she walked steadily into the
house and into the room where the
baby sister lay in stupor, breath
ing stertorously.
The doctor and Amos were there.
Mrs. Norton was now soothing LIZ
zie in the kitchen, now obeying the
doctors orders. Amos did not stir
from his chair by the bed, nor
speak a word, all that night. The
doctor was In his shirt Sleeves, pre-
pared to fight as best he could.
go out, LYDIA" said Doctor Full
ton, quietly.
She'll want me-" replied the
child.
"She's in a stupor and won't miss
you, Lydia. She is not suffering
at all. Now, | want you to go to
bed like a good girl"
~ won't" said Lydia quietly.
LYDIA" the doctor went on, as
If he were talking to a grown per
son, "all your life you will be
grateful, if / make you obey me
now. / know those wild nerves of
yours, too much and too early con
trolled. Lydia, go to bed"
Not because she feared him but
because some knowledge beyond
her years told her Of his wisdom,
Lydia turned, found Florence Dom
hey in the living room and with her
and a blanket, crept under her ia
theirs bed, into the farthest corner,
where she lay ~wide-eyed until
dawn. Some one closed the door
into the room then, and shortly,
she fell asleep.
In three days, the like of which
are the longest, the shortest days
Of life, the house had returned toI
the remnant of its old routine. The
place had been fumigated. Lydia
had placed in her bedroom every
thing that had belonged to the
baby, had locked the door and had
moved herself into Lizzie's room.
Amos departed before dawn as
usual with his dinner pail, stun
bling like an old man, over the
road.
The quarantine sign was on the
house and no one but the under
taker, the doctor, Mrs. Norton and
John Levine had been allowed tO
come to see the stricken little fam
lily. excepting the minister.
Lydia and Lizzie put in the nor
ing cleaning the cottage. Never
since they had lived in it had the
little house been so spick and span.
At noon, they sat down to lunch in
a splendor of cleanliness that made
the place seem stranger than ever
to them both. Neither talked much.
At intervals, tears ran down old
looked at her w0nderingly. Lydia
had not shed a tear. But all the
time her cheeks were scarlet, her
hands were cold and trembled and
her stomach ached.
You must eat, childie. You
haven't eat enough to keep a bird
alive since-since-"
There was a bang on the door,
and Lizzie trundled over to open it.
For the Lords sake, Kent"
Kent it was, big and rosy, with
his skates over his shoulders. He
walked into the living room DELHI
erately.
Hello, LYDIA he said; Il came
out to see your Christmas pres
Lydia clasped her hands. ooh,
Kent, I'm so sorry But you can't
stay We're quarantined."
"HVhat the seventeen thunder
bugs do / care" returned Kent,
looking away from Lydia's
appealing eyes.
Lydia laughed, as she always did
at Kent's astonishing oaths. At
the sound of laughter old Lizzie
gave a sigh as though some of her
own tense nerves had relaxed.
Nov see here" growled Kent,
they've got no business to shut
you up this way. You come out
and skate for a while. We won't
meet anybody at this end of the
Gust the thing, quarantine or
not" exclaimed Lizzie, briskly.
And I'll cook a surprise for the
two of you. Keep her out an hour,
lydia silently got into %overcoat