herself, laid her over-wearied body beside that of her sick child.
Ella was asleep; but her breathing was hard, and her mother
perceived, upon laying her hand upon her face, that her fever had
greatly increased. But she knew no means of alleviation, and
therefore did not attempt any. In a little while, nature claimed for
her a respite. Sleep locked her senses in forgetfulness.






CHAPTER III.

DEATH OF MRS. GASTON'S CHILD.--A MOTHER'S ANGUISH.





ON the next morning, at the earliest dawn, Mrs. Gaston arose. She
found Ella's fever still very high. The child was restless, and
moaned a good deal in her sleep.

"Poor little thing!" murmured the mother, as she bent over her for a
moment, and then turned away, and commenced kindling a fire upon the
hearth. Fortunately, for her, she had saved enough from her earnings
during the summer to buy half a cord of wood; but this was gradually
melting away, and she was painfully conscious that, by the time the
long and severe winter had fairly set in, her stock of fuel would be