Open your eyes, mamma; look at the bright lightning, and kiss your
little Francis." Either his sweet voice, or the cries of her elder
children, restored her faculties: she gradually recovered, and called me
to her. The excess of my joy threatened to be almost as fatal as my
grief. With difficulty I controlled my own feelings and those of my
boys; and, after I had sent them from the bed, I ascertained that she
was not only really living, but much better. The pulse was calm, and
the fever had subsided, leaving only a weakness that was by no means
alarming. I relinquished, joyfully, the intention of bleeding her, the
necessity of which I had trembled to contemplate, and contented myself
with employing the boys to prepare a cooling mixture, composed of the
juice of the lemon, of barley, and tamarinds, which they completed to
the great satisfaction of their mother. I then ordered Fritz to descend
to the yard, to kill a fowl, pluck and boil it, to make broth,--a
wholesome and light nourishment for our dear invalid. I told one of his
brothers to assist him, and Jack and Francis, frequently employed under
their mother, were ready in a moment. Ernest alone remained quietly on
his seat, which I attributed to his usual indolence, and tried to make
him ashamed of it.
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