Albert lay deep in the great feather-bed, his cheeks a flaming crimson, his arms tossing restlessly. Even when Sarah bent over him, he did not know her, but kept on with his restless crying. She put her hand on his hot forehead, she opened the collar of his night-gown.
When Aunt Eliza and Uncle Daniel came into the room, she turned upon them a look of such anguish that Aunt 'Liza began to cry, and Uncle Daniel sat down weakly in a chair.
"Is it the smallpox?" asked Aunt 'Liza fearfully.
Sarah did not answer. She looked at Albert once more. Long before, when her mother was living, the twins had found the Christmas candy, and had eaten it all in a day. Then the twins had had a sorry time. They had looked just like this.
"What did you give Albert to eat?" she demanded.
"Ach! bread and meat and potatoes and pie, like always, and—"
"And what?" insisted Sarah.
"And a few crullers."
"And what yet?"
"And a little candy."