Carol you got them for her, she took them in her hand and held them under the covers.  Of course, they wilted right away, but I knew you would like Carrie to have them close to her.’—­Oh, you must eat it all, Lark.  It looks very good.  I must take a little of it up to Carol,—­maybe she can eat some.—­And you will do your very best to be strong and bright and rosy—­for Carol—­won’t you?”

“Yes, I will,—­I’ll go and run across the field a few times before I go to bed.  Yes, I’ll try my very best.”  Then she looked up at the doctor, and added:  “But I wouldn’t do it for you, or anybody else, either.”

But the doctor only smiled oddly, and went away up-stairs again, wondering at the wisdom that God has placed in the hearts of women!

Dreary miserable days and nights followed after that.  And Prudence, to whom Carol, even in delirium, clung with such wildness that they dare not deny her, grew weary-eyed and wan.  But when the doctor, putting his hand on her shoulder, said, “It’s all right now, my dear.  She’ll soon be as well as ever,”—­then Prudence dropped limply to the floor, trembling weakly with the great happiness.

Good Methodist friends from all over Mount Mark came to the assistance of the parsonage family, and many gifts and delicacies and knick-knacks were sent in to tempt the appetite of the invalid, and the others as well.

“You all need toning up,” said Mrs. Adams crossly, “you’ve all gone clear under.  A body would think the whole family had been down with something!”

Carol’s friends at the high school, and the members of the faculty also, took advantage of this opportunity to show their love for her.  And Professor Duke sent clear to Burlington for a great basket of violets and lilies-of-the-valley, “For our little high-school song-bird,” as he wrote on the card.  And Carol dimpled with delight as she read it.

“Now you see for yourself, Prudence,” she declared.  “Isn’t he a duck?”

When the little parsonage group, entire, gathered once more around the table in the “real dining-room,” they were joyful indeed.  It was a gala occasion!  The very best china and silverware were brought out in Carol’s honor.  The supper was one that would have gratified the heart of a bishop, at the very least!

“Apple pie, with pure cream, Carol,” said Lark ecstatically, for apple pie with pure cream was the favorite dessert of the sweet-toothed twins.  And Lark added earnestly, “And I don’t seem to be very hungry to-night, Carol,—­I don’t want any pie.  You shall have my piece, too!”

“I said I felt it in my bones, you remember,” said Prudence, smiling at Carol, “but my mental compass indicated Connie when it should have pointed to Carol!  And I do hope, Connie dear, that this will be a lesson to you, and impress upon you that you must always change your shoes and stockings when your feet are wet!”

And for the first time in many days, clear, happy-hearted laughter rang out in the parsonage.