How long had they been listening?
CHAPTER XXXV
There came a season of sleet and rain when the smaller children were shut
indoors and it was hard to keep them amused. They did not look well, and
Edith was worried. She had always dreaded the spring, and to carry her
family safely through she had taken them, in former years, to Atlantic City
for two weeks. That of course was impossible now. Trouble was bound to
come, she thought. And it was not long in coming. Bobby, who was ten years
old and went to school with his brother George, caught a wretched cold one
day. Edith popped him into bed, but despite her many precautions he gave
his cold to Bruce and Tad.
"Suppose I ask Allan Baird to come," Deborah suggested. "He's wonderful
with children, you know."
Edith curtly accepted his services. She felt he had been sent for to
prevent her getting Doctor Lake. But she said nothing. She would wait.
Through long hard days and longer nights she slaved upstairs. All Deborah's
proffers of aid she declined. She kept Elizabeth home from school to help
her with the many meals, the medicines and the endless task of keeping her
lively patients in bed. She herself played with them by the hour, while the
ache in her head was a torment. At night she was up at the slightest sound.
Heavy circles came under her eyes. Within a few days her baby, Bruce, had
developed pneumonia.
That evening after dinner, while Deborah was sitting with Roger in the
living room, she heard her sister coming downstairs.
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