“Oh, my back!” was all she could think or say as she felt the jar all through her little body, and a corresponding fear in her guilty little mind that someone would come and find out the double mischief she had been at.  For a moment she lay quite still to recover from the shock, then as the pain passed she began to wonder how she should get back, and looked about her to see if she could do it alone.  She thought she could, as the sofa was near and she had improved so much that she could sit up a little if the doctor would have let her.  She was gathering herself together for the effort, when, within arm’s reach now, she saw the tempting paper, and seized it with glee, for in spite of her predicament she did want to tease Frank.  A glance showed that it was not the composition nor a note, but the beginning of a letter from Mrs. Minot to her sister, and Jill was about to lay it down when her own name caught her eye, and she could not resist reading it.  Hard words to write of one so young, doubly hard to read, and impossible to forget.

“Dear Lizzie,—­Jack continues to do very well, and will soon be up again.  But we begin to fear that the little girl is permanently injured in the back.  She is here, and we do our best for her; but I never look at her without thinking of Lucinda Snow, who, you remember, was bedridden for twenty years, owing to a fall at fifteen.  Poor little Janey does not know yet, and I hope”—­There it ended, and “poor little Janey’s” punishment for disobedience began that instant.  She thought she was getting well because she did not suffer all the time, and every one spoke cheerfully about “by and by.”  Now she knew the truth, and shut her eyes with a shiver as she said, low, to herself,—­

“Twenty years!  I couldn’t bear it; oh, I couldn’t bear it!”

A very miserable Jill lay on the floor, and for a while did not care who came and found her; then the last words of the letter—­“I hope”—­seemed to shine across the blackness of the dreadful “twenty years” and cheer her up a bit, for despair never lives long in young hearts, and Jill was a brave child.

“That is why Mammy sighs so when she dresses me, and every one is so good to me.  Perhaps Mrs. Minot doesn’t really know, after all.  She was dreadfully scared about Jack, and he is getting well.  I’d like to ask Doctor, but he might find out about the letter.  Oh, dear, why didn’t I keep still and let the horrid thing alone!”

As she thought that, Jill pushed the paper away, pulled herself up, and with much painful effort managed to get back to her sofa, where she laid herself down with a groan, feeling as if the twenty years had already passed over her since she tumbled off.

“I’ve told a lie, for I said I wouldn’t stir.  I’ve hurt my back, I’ve done a mean thing, and I’ve got paid for it.  A nice missionary I am; I’d better begin at home, as Mammy told me to;” and Jill groaned again, remembering her mother’s words.  “Now I’ve got another secret to keep all alone, for I’d be ashamed to tell the girls.  I guess I’ll turn round and study my spelling; then no one will see my face.”