her hands. “Oh, I’m so wicked and selfish to think of leaving him there without you or me or mother — one. David, what can we do? He might die there, and you — you must come back for the winter; what would save him, might kill you. Oh, David! Take me with you, and leave me there with him, and you come back. Doctor Hoyle will take care of him — of us — once we are there.”

“Now, now, now! hold your dear heart in peace. Why, I’m well. To stay another winter would only be to establish myself in a more rugged condition of body — not that I must do so. We’ll talk with your mother to-morrow. It may be hard to persuade her.”

But he found the mother most reasonable and practical. He even tried to abate her perfect trust in him