They were hurrying to get the cherry crop cared for before the guests arrived. There would be enough to do after they came to keep them all busy without preserving, Mrs. Morton declared. One day when they were seeding cherries, Marian noticed that Jane was eating only half ripe ones.
“What on earth are you eating those green things for, child?”
“Oh, just for fun.”
“Well, it won’t be funny if you eat many of them. I don’t know anything that’ll make you sick quicker than green cherries. They’re acid enough when they’re ripe.”
In the hurry of preparing for the guests, Marian thought nothing further about it. Three nights later, Dr. Morton wakened them at midnight to 70know if they had any calomel. “The Chicken’s mighty sick,” he said. “And I gave the last I had to Mrs. Benton for Mary.”
“I haven’t any calomel, Father, but I’ve got some castor oil,” Marian announced after some rummaging.
“That will go hard with Jane, she loathes it. But she’ll have to take it down I guess. I can’t imagine what ails her, she’s vomiting and has a high fever.”
A sudden recollection struck Marian.
“Maybe she has been eating too many cherries.”
“Ripe cherries oughtn’t to hurt her and they have been plentiful so long, I shouldn’t think she would overeat.”