GUILTY OF SUCH A CRUEL, COWARDLY TRICK!"
There was anxiety in the doctor's household that night, for the child who had endeared herself to all by her gentle ways lay unconscious; Mrs. Knight was ill from anxiety and suspense; and the little girls sobbed themselves to sleep.
When David was sent to bed he found his brother crouched on the floor, and essayed to comfort him. But George refused to be comforted, or to touch the supper that his father had sent up to him.
"She will die!" he moaned, "and I shall have killed her!"
His anxiety was heart-felt and deep, and his repentance sincere; but sorrow for evil doing cannot wipe out the consequences of the sin; and the suffering he endured that night was a life-long lesson to the thoughtless boy.
[CHAPTER VI]
STELLA PLEADS FOR GEORGE
SILENCE reigned in the room where Stella lay perfectly still, with distended eyes and rigid limbs. The doctor and his assistant watched by her side, and Miss Clarke sat in an easy-chair close by.
It was nearly midnight, and still the child showed no signs of consciousness, when Anna came to the door and asked if Dr. Knight would come and see his wife for a few minutes, a request with which he immediately complied.
Mr. Gray was holding Stella's hand in his when he felt her fingers twitch, the strained look died out of her eyes, her face relaxed, and he saw she was regaining consciousness. A look brought Miss Clarke to the bedside, and she bent anxiously over the child.