astonishment. "I beg your pardon, Mrs. Martin," said the visitor, "but
it's after twelve o'clock, and I began to get anxious--you a stranger
and all. I think, ma'am, you've a fever. Better let me call the doctor;
there's one on the block."

The woman sat up in bed. "Mrs. Martin?" she said faintly. "Yes--I've--My
head hurts--and my eyes--" She stared about her with a puzzled
expression that convinced her observer that delirium had set in. "A
doctor? Do I need a doctor? Why? What was it the doctor said? That my
nerves were in--in--what was it? And I must travel and rest--yes, that
was it; I remember now."

"Well," the other woman commented, "he doesn't seem to have done you a
world of good, and you better try another."

"No," said Mrs. Marteen with decision, "no, I don't want one--not now,
anyway. It's a headache. May I have some tea? Then I'll lie quiet, if
you'll lower that blind, please."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Bell's away, or I'd send for her," ventured the
landlady.

"Mrs. Bell?" the sick woman echoed with the same tone of puzzled
surprise. "Why, she's away--yes--she's away." She sank back among the
pillows and waved a dismissing hand.

Still the landlady waited. She deemed it most unwise not to call a
doctor, but feared to make herself responsible for the bill if her guest
refused. But she had seen enough to convince her that the lady's visible
possessions were ample to cover any bill she might run up through