"She looks good-natured," Margaret remarked. "Mother is not very well," she proceeded to explain, "so she is lying in bed this morning, and Gerald is at his lessons with Miss Conway, so I thought I would look you up, Salome."
"I am very glad to see you, miss. But I am sorry to hear Mrs. Fowler is ill."
"She is not ill exactly—at least, I hope not. She complained of a bad headache, so Ross advised her to remain in bed and rest. It worries me if she's not well, now father's away."
"Then Mr. Fowler is not back yet, miss?"
"No. We expected him to stay away only a few days, but his business is keeping him longer than he thought it would, so he will not be at home till next week. It is so dull without him."
"I daresay it is, miss."
"Before he went, he told me he left mother in my charge, and that's why I'm so anxious about her. You know, she was very, very ill before we came here. I never saw her for weeks then, and—oh, it was a terrible time!"
"It must have been," Salome said sympathetically.
"How bright you look to-day!" Margaret exclaimed presently, after observing her companion in silence for several minutes.
"I feel bright," the lame girl acknowledged with a smile, "for I know father'll come home sober by-and-by, when the fishing boats return, and that's enough to make one happy."