Rest, gruel, and quiet, and in a few days Mr.Rand would be downstairs with the ladies.

The blood was let, and the doctor rode away.

Joab and the culprit Selim went on Rand's errands to the town and to the home on the Three-Notched Road.

Mammy Chloe, in white apron and kerchief and coloured turban, presented herself with a curtsy, delivered kindly messages from the ladies of the house, and sat down with her sewing in the little adjoining room.

The morning advanced, sunny and peaceful, with vague sounds, faint laughter from distant rooms, droning of bees, and rustling of cool poplar leaves.
Rand, lying high upon his pillows, stopped his work of writing with his left hand to listen to a step coming up the polished stairway and along the passage leading to his room.