I was off the inlet when it come on." The wife, a thick-set woman in a close-fitting cap, her arms bared to the elbow, her petticoats above the tops of her shoes, met him inside the door.

She had been crying and her eyelids were still wet and her cheeks swollen.

The light of the ship's lantern fastened to the wall fell upon a crib in the corner, on which lay the child, his short curls, tangled with much tossing, smoothed back from his face.

The doctor's ears had caught the sound of the child's breathing before he entered the room.
"When did this come on ?" Doctor John asked, settling down beside the crib upon a stool that the wife had brushed off with her apron.
"'Bout sundown, sir," she answered, her tear-soaked eyes fixed on little Tod's face.

Her teeth chattered as she spoke and her arms were tight pressed against her sides, her fingers opening and shutting in her agony.