A short time later Bee was sitting on the door-step of the cabin trying to get relief from the fetid air of the interior when she heard foot-steps hurrying along the path through the woods which led to the dwelling. Soon someone called:
"Beatrice!"
"Father!" she cried joyfully, starting to her feet.
"I am coming to you." Doctor Raymond's tall figure entered the clearing in which the cabin stood. A sudden thought came to the girl. If he entered the house he might get the dreadful disease. Quick as a flash she darted inside, and closed and locked the door just as he reached the step.
"Beatrice, what does this mean?" asked her father trying the door.
"Father," called Bee, "you must go away. You can't come in. Rachel has the small pox, and if you come in you may get it."
"I do not fear, my daughter. I have come to take you home."
"I can not go, father. Rachel is all alone, and she seems to be awfully sick."
"Isn't Tillie there?"
"No. There is no one here but me."