She stopped, seized again by a fit of coughing.
"I brought you a few little things, Mrs. Hughes," said Paula, laying down the packages she had brought. At the same time she slipped a five-dollar bill into the woman's hand. "Let Annie beat you up a fresh-laid egg. It'll do your cough good. You must get all the nourishment you can or you'll never get strong."
"God bless you, lady," murmured the sick woman. "Where would Annie and me be to-day if it wasn't for you?"
"Where's your husband?" demanded Paula.
Mrs. Hughes shook her head feebly.
"I don't know," she whispered. "He never comes near me. He earns wages now and again, but it all goes in whisky. The neighbors say he was arrested last week and sent to the Island."
Paula turned to Tod.
"Isn't it fearful?" she said, in a low tone.
Tod put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a ten-dollar bill.
"Terrible!" he said. "Here—give her this. She needs it more than I. It's the first thing I've done for charity in my life, and somehow it makes one feel good."