Maria continued to stand numbly in the middle of the kitchen,
watching Mrs. White, who looked at her uneasily.

"You must be a good girl, and trust in the Lord," said she, and she
tried to make her voice sharp. "Now, don't stand there lookin' on;
just fly round and do somethin'. I don't believe but the dinin'-room
needs dustin'. You find somethin' and dust the dinin'-room real nice,
while I get the breakfast."

Maria obeyed, but she did that numbly, without any realization of the
task.

The morning wore on. The doctors, one at a time came down, and the
nurse came down, and they ate a hearty breakfast. Maria watched them,
and hated them because they could eat while her mother was so ill.
Miss Bell also ate heartily, and she felt that she hated her. She was
glad that her father refused anything except a cup of coffee. As for
herself, Mrs. White made her drink an egg beaten up with milk. "If
you won't eat your breakfast, you've got to take this," said she.

Mrs. White took her own breakfast in stray bites, while she was
clearing away the table. She stayed, and put the house in order,
until Maria's aunt Maria arrived. One of the physicians went away.
For a short time Maria's mother's groans and wailings recommenced,
then the smell of chloroform was strong throughout the house.

"I wonder why they don't give her morphine instead of chloroform?"
said Mrs. White, while Maria was wiping the dishes. "It is dreadful
dangerous to give that, especially if the heart is weak. Well, don't