Constance House was not prepared with sleeping accommodations for so large a company of visitors, and at ten o'clock they mounted to the ship for the night. At seven o'clock on the following morning they all descended again and partook of the substantial breakfast prepared for them by Jennie, with the help of a half-breed Indian girl.
The surprise and delight of the family was immeasurable at the palliative effects of Dr. Jones' medicine. Mrs. Barton had rested quite comfortably nearly all night, a thing that she had not done in many months. Barton grasped the Doctor's hand when he first appeared in the morning, and could not speak for emotion.
"That is all right, Mr. Barton; just what I expected."
"Doctor, you have inspired me with a degree of hope that I never expected to know again. Do you really think you can cure her?"
"Mr. Barton, I will just reiterate what I said to you last night: I have seen some astonishing cures done by the remedy indicated by the symptoms, and in what we call a 'high potency.' I cannot stop to explain all this to you, but you can rest assured that it is the only help or hope for your wife. Anxious though I am to be off toward our destination, yet I am going to stop over and study your wife's symptoms more closely, and leave you medicines with written directions as to their use."
The joy of the Barton family was unbounded at this announcement of the benevolent Doctor.
After breakfast, Denison, Fred, and Will decided to accompany the Barton boys up the river that flowed near Constance House, visiting their traps.
"What game do you have in this country?" asked Denison.
"We have reindeer, bear, wolves, foxes, hare, marten, otter, and in the spring and summer we have an abundance of geese, ducks, etc.," replied Joe, the elder of the boys. Sam was the younger of the brothers, and they were aged twenty-three and twenty-one years respectively. The voyagers were surprised at the correctness of their speech and other indications of education.
"Our mother is an educated woman, and has taken great pains with our education," said Sam in reply to a remark of Denison upon the subject. "And she has done as much for father. Our long winter nights we always spend in reading, music, and sometimes in such games as chess, backgammon, drafts, etc. Mother is a most splendid mathematician. She is also quite a linguist. But I am afraid that mother's days of teaching are over in this world. Dr. Jones is exceedingly kind, but do you really think that he has any hopes of curing her?" And the two sons looked anxiously into Denison's face as they awaited his reply.