collar, then drenching her handkerchief with water from an ice pitcher,
she began to bathe his flushed and knotted forehead.

She imagined that this afforded him some relief, and that his breathing
was not quite so labored, but his condition drove her nearly frantic with
fear and anxiety.

James was very expeditious in his movements, and in less than half an
hour returned with the family physician.

"Oh, Doctor Hammond, what is the matter with him?" Mona cried, with a
sinking heart, as she saw the grave expression that settled over the
doctor's face the moment he reached his patient's side.

"An apoplectic attack," he replied, thinking it best that she should know
the truth, and so be somewhat prepared for what he feared must soon come.

The unconscious man was borne to his chamber, and everything which human
skill could devise was done for him. He rallied somewhat toward morning,
but Doctor Hammond gave them no hope that he would ever be any better, or
even retain his consciousness for any length of time.

The whole of his right side was helpless, and his tongue was also
paralyzed, so that he was entirely speechless.

His efforts to talk were agonizing to witness, for he appeared to realize
that his hours were numbered, and seemed to have something special on his
mind that he wished to make those around him understand.

Mona alone, who never left his side, seemed able to interpret something