"Was Uncle Jason really here?" she asked timidly. She was quite sure her mother had been crying.
"Yes, dear. He has gone to Boston and will be back in a few days. Oh, Laverne, I hope you will learn to love him. Some day, when you are older, you will understand why he came back, and he will be your best friend when"—when I am gone, she was about to say, but checked herself, and substituted "all your life. When I was a little girl he was a kind and generous big boy. Then he went to sea, and was back only a few times. For years I had heard nothing from him—he has been round the world, everywhere. And he has a big, tender heart——"
"Oh, I am sure I shall be glad to love him. Why, you seem to go right to his heart;" and the child's face glowed with enthusiasm.
"Yes, yes." She began to cough and sat down suddenly, putting her handkerchief to her mouth.
"The salt, quick, Verne," she gasped.
She lay on the old wooden settee and stuffed her mouth full of salt.
"Oh, what can I do?" cried the child, in mild alarm.
"Run for Aunt Cynthy Beers. Tell her to come quick."
The neighbor, who was the village nurse, came back with the child. Then she was despatched for the doctor. He shook his head gravely.
"Doctor, you must keep me alive a little while longer," she pleaded.