see how his wife progressed.

That night as the nurse was about to retire, she was surprised to
find, under the coverlet of her bed, an enormous rag baby, as large
as a child of two years old, dressed completely, with shoes, bonnet
and veil. Her astonishment can easily be imagined as she held it up
to the light and carefully examined it; then, laughing heartily, she
turned to Mrs. Roberts (my patient) and said:

"My! who could have put this baby in my bed?" On which that lady
replied with evident embarrassment that the baby was a doll
belonging to her niece, and that, imagining the bed to be unoccupied,
she had, in unpacking her trunk, placed it there for the sake of
convenience, and apologized for being so careless. The nurse made no
reply, but, being of a jovial disposition, danced with it into the
other rooms, exclaiming, much to the chagrin of the lady, that she
had found a beautiful baby in her bed. The other patients wondered
what it was, and whence it came, and appealed to me for information,
but, as I knew nothing about it myself, their curiosity was not
gratified in the least. On my questioning the lady she told me a
story similar to that which she told the nurse, but her countenance
contradicted her assertions, and the idea of any child carrying a
doll of the dimensions of the rag baby was too absurd for credence.
No more was said about it, however, and the matter passed almost
completely from our memory.

For three or four days things went on as usual, Mrs. Roberts
getting to all appearances better every day, and her husband's
visits being paid with due regularity; one day, however, he failed
to appear, and Mrs. Roberts seemed very uneasy. After tea she asked