Then she dozed off again, and did not awake until she heard little Ralph calling at her door: "Hurry up, 'Innie! B'eakast is 'most weady!"
She sprang out of bed in haste then, and was in the dining-room in time to take her seat with the rest.
"'He maketh the storm a calm, and the waves thereof are still,'" she quoted when it came her turn to give her selection. She had chosen this one for its gentle beauty.
How pleasant it all was! How full of life and joy everything seemed, even to the carnations in the center of the table, with their spicy odor!
She performed her Saturday morning duties cheerfully, and after lunch asked permission to take her books and go to Ernestine's to look over the lessons for Monday, for the end of the year—their last year in the Intermediate—was rapidly approaching, and, their course being almost completed, they would soon begin the heavy review in preparation for the high-school examination.
Permission was readily granted, and Winnifred started off with a light heart. When she reached Ernestine's home, a gentleman came down the steps and passed out of the door just as she was about to enter the hall, so, somewhat surprised, she went up the stairs more slowly than usual and knocked softly. It was opened by a strange lady, who, in answer to Winnifred's inquiry for Ernestine, said: "Ernestine is with her mother, who is so ill that the doctor says she must either have a trained nurse or go to the hospital."
"Oh, I must go right home and tell mamma!" said Winnie, and she went away without another word.
When she reached home, she found her mother in the sitting-room doing the week's mending. On hearing her daughter's sad news she hurriedly changed her dress and set out at once for Mrs. Alroy's.
She was gone an hour—an age, it seemed to Winnifred, unsuccessfully struggling to keep her mind on her lessons. When Mrs. Burton returned, her face was very grave, and she drew Winnie toward her with a warm embrace as she said:
"Mrs. Alroy has decided to have a nurse; she says she has saved a little money for just such an emergency and prefers to be at home where she can have Ernestine with her. She asked me to send for Mr. Allen."