“I will attend to it” said the Doctor.

“So long as she lives she will take care of her.  But she is now an old woman, and when she dies, God knows what will become of her.”

“I will look after her as long as I live,” said the Doctor.

“Thank you, Doctor.”  There was a pause.  “She is a saint.”  His mind had gone back to his early life.  To this Dr. Balsam made no reply.  “She has had a sad life.  She was crossed in love but instead of souring, it sweetened her.”

“I was the man,” said the Doctor, quietly.  “I will look after your child.”

“You were!  I never knew his name.  She never married.”

He gave a few directions, and presently said:  “My little girl?  I wish to see her.  It cannot hurt me?”

“No, it will not hurt you,” said the Doctor, quietly.

The child was brought, and the dying man’s eyes lit up as they rested on her pink face and brown eyes filled with a vague wonder.

“You must remember papa.”

She stood on tiptoe and, leaning over, kissed him.

“And you must go to Aunt Abby when I have gone.”

“I will take Gordon Keith with me,” said the child.

The ghost of a smile flickered about the dying man’s eyes.  Then came a fit of coughing, and when it had passed, his head, after a few gasps, sank back.

At a word from the Doctor, an attendant took the child out of the room.

That evening the old Doctor saw that the little girl was put to bed, and that night he sat up alone with the body.  There were many others to relieve him, but he declined them and kept his vigil alone.

What memories were with him; what thoughts attended him through those lonely hours, who can tell!

General Keith went immediately to Ridgely on hearing of General Huntington’s death.  He took Gordon with him, thinking that he would help to comfort the little orphaned girl.  The boy had no idea how well he was to know the watering-place in after years.  The child fell to his care and clung to him, finally going to sleep in his arms.  While the arrangements were being made, they moved for a day or two over to Squire Rawson’s, the leading man of the Ridge region, where the squire’s granddaughter, a fresh-faced girl of ten or twelve years, took care of the little orphan and kept her interested.

The burial, in accordance with a wish expressed by General Huntington, took place in a corner of the little burying-ground at Ridgely, which lay on a sunny knoll overlooking the long slope to the northeastward.  The child walked after the bier, holding fast to Gordon’s hand, while Dr. Balsam and General Keith walked after them.

As soon as General Keith could hear from Miss Brooke he took the child to her; but to the last Lois said that she wanted Gordon to come with her.

Soon afterwards it appeared that General Huntington’s property had nearly all gone.  His plantation was sold.