He left everything in Doris's capable hands!
Again Doris took breath for the next stretch of the long way.
And Joan and Nancy went to Dondale and Miss Phillips.
It was a hard break for them all and was taken characteristically. Joan, tear-stained and quivering, set her face to the change and excitement with unmistakable delight. Nancy was frightened into silent but smiling acquiescence. She expected, she told Joan, that it would kill her, but she would not make Aunt Dorrie feel any worse than she did by showing what she felt! At this Joan tossed her head and sent two large tears rolling down her cheeks.
"None of us will die, Nan. We all feel deathly, but this is—life."
At ten Joan had a distinct comprehension of the difference between living and life. To a certain extent you controlled the former; the latter "got you."
"I—I don't want life," wailed Nancy, "I want Aunt Dorrie."
"But life—wants you!"
Somewhere Joan had heard that, or read it—the old library was no hidden place to her—and she brought it forth now with emphasis.
Nancy made no reply. In that mood Joan would show no mercy. It was when she was suffering the most that Joan could harden and frighten Nancy. She was lashing herself to duty when she sent the whip cracking.