"The gentlemen are waiting below, miss. They won't leave until they see you."
"How can I go now? Send them away, send them away!"
"Yes, miss; but I told them what you said this afternoon about the danger of Holiest Mother—"
"Hush! she is calling." Aline slipped into the room on hurried feet, her eyes dilated, her hair in anxious disorder. But the invalid made no signal. She lay with closed eyelids, the contraction of her nostrils a faint proclamation of life. Again the niece took her place at the headboard, and with folded fingers watched the whispering indications of speedy flight. The maid soon beckoned her from a narrowed door. Aline joined her.
"They say that if you don't go down, they will come up."
"Who says?" was the stern query.
"The Second Reader and the Secretary. I think you had better see them; they both look worried. Really I do, Miss Allie."
"Very well, Ellen; but you must stay here, and if Holiest Mother makes the slightest move, touch the bell. I'll not be gone five minutes."
Without arranging her hair or dress, Aline opened the folding doors of the drawing-room. Only the centre lamp was lighted, but she recognized the two men. They were sitting together, and arose as she entered. The burly Second Reader wore a dismayed countenance. His cheeks were flabby, his eyes red. The other was a timid little man who never had anything to say.
"How is Holiest Mother?" asked the Reader.