"Oh! I have been to him at his own office at Edinburgh to get him to come and save Mary's life, and he said he would be here before me."
"And what in the world put it in your head to go there?" again asked the mother.
"Because I heard my father say yesterday that the pelican had insured dear sister Mary's life, and I went to tell him to come and do it immediately; because if Mary were to die, I couldn't live, you know. That's the reason, dear mother."
"Yes, yes," said the father, scarcely able to repress a smile which rose in spite of his grief. "I see it all. You did a very right thing, my love. The pelican has been here, and Mary is better."
"Oh! I am so glad," rejoined Annie; "for I wasn't sure whether he had come or not; because, though I looked for him on the road, I couldn't see him."
At the same moment the doctor came in, with a blithe face.
"Mary is safe now," said he. "There has been a crisis, after all. The sweat has broken out upon her dry skin, and she will be well in a very short time."
"And there's no thanks to you," said Annie, "because it was I who went for the pelican."
Whereupon the doctor looked to the father, who, taking him aside, narrated to him the story, at which the doctor was so pleased that he laughed right out.
"You're the noblest little heroine I ever heard of," said he.