pale-coloured, was tied in a ragged knot. She wore slippers, the
upper parts of which still adhered to the soles only by miracle. It
looked very much as if the same relation subsisted between her frame
and the life that informed it, for there was no blood in her cheeks,
no lustre in her eye. The baby at her bosom moaned in the act of
sucking; one knew not how the poor woman could supply sustenance to
another being.

The children were not dirty nor uncared for, but their clothing hung
very loosely upon them; their flesh was unhealthy, their voices had
an unnatural sound.

Sidney stepped up to the bed and gave his hand.

'I'm so glad you've come before Clara,' said Mrs. Hewett. 'I hoped
you would. But she can't be long, an' I want to speak to you first.
It's a bad night, isn't it? Yes, I feel it in my throat, and it goes
right through my chest--just 'ere, look! And I haven't slep' not a
hour a night this last week; it makes me feel that low. I want to
get to the Orspital, if I can, in a day or two.'

'But doesn't the doctor come still?' asked Sidney, drawing a chair
near to her.

'Well, I didn't think it was right to go on payin' him, an' that's
the truth. I'll go to the Orspital, an' they'll give me somethin'. I
look bad, don't I, Sidney?'

'You look as if you'd no business to be out of bed,' returned the
young man in a grumbling voice.