The sufferer experienced no relief from it, however, and rapidly grew worse.
A doctor was brought to her, and he tried his best to rally her, but all in vain. Thus one week passed.
One day Newel, seeing she was all but gone and was trying to speak to him, bent over her to catch the faint whisper,
"Newel, I am all but done with my suffering; good-by, dear one. You must do the best you can with the children. I cannot last much longer."
This was very brokenly whispered to the distracted man above her, who, as soon as she ceased, hurried away. Coming back soon, he called her; she knew him but was unable to reply.
"Here, Lydia, here is a handkerchief from the Prophet Joseph. Oh my wife, the one I brought before was not from him, I so hated to trouble him. But see this is from Joseph, and he says your Heavenly Father shall heal you, and you shall be restored to life and health."
The handkerchief was bound around her brow, and as it touched her head, the blessing sent with it, descended upon her; and over her and all through her was poured the spirit of healing. Sleep, so long a stranger to the poor afflicted one, closed her eye-lids in a quiet, restful, blessed slumber.
The hours came and fled, and in the quiet of midnight she awoke, and was like one who had been in a dark, loathsome dungeon, and was again free in the open air and sunshine. In the morning the physician came, and when he saw his patient, he exclaimed:
"Why, I never saw such a change in my life! That last medicine has worked like a charm, I wish I'd stayed and seen it operate. Her pulse is all right, her tongue is all right, and in fact she is comparatively a well woman."
After the docter had praised up himself and his medicine to his heart's content, Newel quietly reached the bottle down from the shelf, and said: