"Then came the voice of the teacher,—
"'Margaret Ruthven, why do you not come? If you want to stay with your sister, go back: if not, do not keep us waiting.'
"I followed the rest, but my thoughts were all in confusion that afternoon. I was angry with Bertie, with Mary Hart, with the teacher, with every one but myself, who alone was to blame. I could not fix my attention on the lesson, or put the questions and give the answers with which I was generally so ready; and I was glad when we were dismissed. Still, this did not prevent me from joining Miss Oliver and our Sunday-school teacher when they went to Cuddy's Hollow. It was a long walk; and so much time was taken up in making arrangements for the comfort of the poor family, that it was late before we started for home,—so late that, on our way through the village, Miss Henry stopped at her own house for her father, and both saw us safely home.
"We had been gone five or six hours, and as I entered the hall-door, some of the younger children met me.
"'O Miss Ruthven, Bertie is so sick! She went to sleep in Miss Hart's lap this afternoon, and when she woke up, she did not know any one; and the doctor is here, and she is so sick.'
"In an instant I had flown up the stairs, and was on my knees beside Bertie's bed. There she lay, her head rolling from side to side, her little hot hands tossing restlessly to and fro. She did not know me; and she moaned, and called for mother, saying that 'she was all alone, all alone.'
"Ah! my neglected work rose up plainly before me then,—the simple, easy work of love which God had put ready to my hands, but from which I had coldly turned away in search of something which I thought nobler and better. Would my parents care though I gained every prize in the school, if they came home to find their darling gone, and learned that her last days had been made unhappy by want of love and care? Bessie, do not look so distressed, love. Bertie did not die, though for three weeks all thought that it must end so. Probably all the care and tenderness in the world would not have kept off that terrible illness, but my remorse and misery were as great as though it had all been my doing. I would not leave her day or night, and it was only by the command of my governess that I took any rest. At last a change came, and Bertie was out of danger; but she was fretful and nervous, and could not bear me out of her sight; while I felt that I could not do enough to make up for the past, and devoted my whole time to her.
"'Margy,' she said one day, as I sat beside her, telling stories for her pleasure, 'I am glad you don't improve any more. You are just like my old Margy.'
"So the long summer days passed away, and the exhibition, where I had so hoped to excel all my schoolmates, was drawing near; and I stood, for absence, at the very foot of all my classes. Still I hoped to make up for lost time. Whenever Bertie slept, I took my books, and did my best to keep up with my class. A night-lamp was burned in our room; and, after the rest of the house was safely in bed, I used to rise and study by its faint light, then take a few hours of sleep, and be up with the first streak of day, spending many an hour over my lessons when I should have been at rest. In this way I hoped to recover what I had lost, and be able to take my old place by the time Bertie was well. But again I found that God had other work for me than that which I had laid out for myself.
"For some days I had felt a great deal of pain in my head, and a burning and throbbing in my eyes, which might have told me that I was doing myself harm; but I would not yet heed the warning, or speak of it to any one, lest I should be forbidden to pore over my books. But now it could no longer be hidden. I woke one morning in such agony, and with such a dimness over my sight, that, though Bertie was still weak, I was obliged to call her, and send for help. My governess came, and then the doctor; and, though I could not see his face, the grave tones of the latter and the directions he gave told me that it was a very serious matter.