Thora watched her for a moment with eyes that filled with fear, and then called in a shrill voice, "Aunt Margret! Aunt Margret! Aunt Margret!"
"Aunt Margret has gone, Thora," said Anna.
"Gone! And my baby--has she gone too?"
Anna only rocked herself and moaned, "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!"
Thora struggled to raise herself in bed, but her cheeks whitened and her eyes rolled and with a loud scream she fell back fainting.
The maids came running into the bedroom and opened Thora's clinched hands while Anna bathed her forehead.
"What have I done? Oh, those doctors! Little they know of a mother's feelings! It will kill her in any case. My poor child! My poor child! Come, then; come, then!"
Thora recovered consciousness after a moment, and looked about her with dazed eyes.
"Oscar!" she said, "I want to see Oscar."
"And so you shall, dear," said Anna, and she sent one of the maids across to the Factor's to fetch him instantly. Oscar came up-stairs four steps at a stride and entered the room like a rush of wind.