"Starved nerves in revolt is one way of putting it."
"I thought she had appendicitis or pleurisy or something."
"She has nothing that a week's care won't bring her out of. If she isn't looked out for at least for that length of time the trouble is likely to increase. There isn't anybody to take care of her, is there?"
"Well, there is nobody but me," said Elizabeth.
The doctor looked at her under quizzical eyebrows with an expression that reminded her of her grandfather.
"Give her this medicine regularly," he said, as if he found nothing remarkable in her statement, "and see that she has three nourishing meals a day and keep her quiet."
"It's easier to keep her quiet when you are here," Elizabeth said, indicating the awestruck Madget, Moses, and Mabel, who stood in a respectful row, at a respectful distance from the great man.
"I understand these children are always quiet when they're asleep or when the doctor comes."
"Well," Elizabeth said, "the better they feel that they know you the more noise they make. They treat me like an old friend now."
"I used to live in New York myself," the doctor observed, "and I miss it a good deal more than most people suspect. I know all about you, you see. I know pretty well all the news of the comings and goings in town."