Chapter 25 Summary

Mattie washes a cart with boiling vinegar to make it as sterile as possible. Then she and Eliza load the three sick children into the cart and transport them across town to the coffeehouse. They place a mattress on a table and put the children in the makeshift bed. Over the next several days, they care for the children. Mattie and Eliza are exhausted and on the verge of collapse from the continuous ordeal of washing, cleaning, and caring. Food is scarce and their only source of water is the garden well. Eliza wants to send for a doctor to bleed the children, but Mattie insists that bleeding is harmful and notes that the French physicians do not bleed patients. Eliza finally agrees and the two women then focus on using what scant medicines they can purchase or find. One-day Mattie collapses in...