"Oh, very much better," was the reply. "I ought to when I have so many kind friends."
Just then the nurse came in, bringing the delicacies that the girls had purchased.
"See what these friends have brought you," she said, as she lifted the things one by one from the basket and placed them on a table by the side of the bed.
Mrs. Bragley's eyes grew wet with sudden tears.
"You are too good to me, young ladies! What kind hearts there are in the world!"
The oranges especially seemed to please her, and Mrs. Ellis prepared one for her.
"How good that orange tastes," she remarked. "I've always been very fond of them. At one time I thought I'd be owning a whole grove of them. But that was just a dream."
"What do you mean?" Rhoda asked, with interest.
"Well, dearie," answered the woman, evidently pleased with Rhoda's interest, "some years ago my husband thought he saw his way to make a little fortune for us. He heard of a company in Florida that was developing orange lands, and it looked so good to him that he bought a share in it. He thought he was going to make money enough out of it to make us safe for life. But nothing ever came of it."