“What is it, dear; can I do anything for you?� he asked, going to her and stroking her curl-fringed forehead with his hand.
“Where is Tibby,� she murmured.
“Sure enough, where is Tibby? Alice, is it not time for Tibby to be home? Where did she go?�
“She went over to Nathan’s this morning, and has not yet returned. Shall I go after her?�
Elinor shook her head and looked with stony, unseeing, fixed eyes at the farthest corner of the ceiling. How pinched and drawn the white face looked, that had bloomed so rosily a few hours before.
A moan again escaped her white lips. Alice sighed in sympathy.
“Don’t, Nellie! Think of Robbie. Poor Robbie, he wants to speak to you.�
“Mamma, I love you,� Robbie said, softly patting her cheek with his little brown palm. “What makes you sick, mamma?�
“Robbie, Robbie, dear, dear Robbie! O God! O God! It cannot be!�
And again her eyes closed and she was still.