"Sam came to tell her that his wife had had some sort of a stroke and was dying. She kept calling for mamma, saying that she had a secret to tell her before she died, so she went at once," Jewel answered, speaking as indifferently as if the dying woman had been a stranger, instead of the devoted nurse whose ample breast had pillowed her childish years with tenderer care than she had ever received from her half-demented mother.
But Flower began to sob piteously for her poor old mammy, begging Jewel to go with her to her bedside.
"I would not go for a kingdom! I'm afraid of a dying person. I never saw any one die in my life. And you can not go, either, for mamma said you must stay here with me!" Jewel answered, selfishly.
[CHAPTER V.]
Flower stayed up until midnight waiting for her mother's return and for news of old Maria, but at last she succumbed to anxiety and weariness, and fell asleep on the sofa. The house-maid found her here presently and carried her off to bed.
The first thing she heard next morning was that old Maria had died at the turn of the night, and that her mother had come home soon after and retired to her room, giving orders that she was not to be disturbed in the morning.
Pretty Flower shed some bitter tears over the death of the dearly loved old nurse, then she began to long to comfort her mother in her sorrow.
"Poor dear, she must have loved Mammy Maria very much. I will just peep in and see if she is sleeping soundly," she thought, and went on tiptoe to her mother's door.