Mattie did not answer—she seemed very weak and ill, and not inclined to waste words foreign to her motive in appearing there. She followed the servant up-stairs, pausing on the first landing to take breath.
"What's the matter with you—ain't you well?" asked the servant-maid.
"No, I ain't—I'm just the tother thing."
"Been ill?"
"Scarlet fever—that's all."
"Oh! lor a mussy on us!—keep further off! I can't bide fevers. We shall all be as red as lobsters in the morning."
"It ain't catching now—Mother Watts didn't catch it—I wish she had!"
"Will you go up-stairs now?"
"Let's get a breath—I ain't so strong as I used to be—now then."
Up the next flight, to the door of the first-floor front, where Sidney Hinchford, pale with suspense, was standing.