“Where do you suppose Sirius is?” said Sophy. “We haven’t seen him yet. I want to hug him for saving my only brother Peter.” “My child, you will never see Sirius again,” said Roger. “He lost his own life when he saved Peter’s. He is dead.” Sophy gazed at him for a moment in speechless astonishment. Then she buried her face in his arm. “Sirius is dead!” she wailed. “Oh, what will Peter say?” CHAPTER XIV. SOPHY WAYLAYS ROGER MADISON. SEVERAL days elapsed before they dared tell Peter of the fate of Sirius. The doctor’s orders that he should be kept very quiet must be obeyed, and that was the excuse which they gave him when the boy begged that Sirius might come to him. The spring days, so beautiful in themselves, seemed to have brought much care and anxiety to the Starrs. Honor was visibly depressed, but Katherine had her music with Miss Madison to divert her, and Victoria’s feelings, whatever they may have been, she was careful to hide. The presence of Mrs. Wentworth Ward made a great change in the household, and Peter’s accident a still more serious one. There were many extra steps to be taken, and sometimes he was a difficult patient. He did not mean to be exacting, but he felt it to be a greater trial than he deserved, to be kept in bed with a broken leg when the days out of doors were so beautiful, when trees and grass were daily growing greener, and the creatures had awakened from their winter’s nap, when “the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” Peter did not express his feelings in just these words perhaps, but the thought of all that was beautiful out of doors made him restless and his pain hard to bear. Honor and Katherine divided the teaching hours, one remaining with Peter while the other superintended the school. The spring weather seemed to affect the pupils also, for at times they became quite unmanageable. Sometimes Honor wondered if her own impatience did not react upon herself, influencing the children and making them more or less refractory. Whatever the cause, the school had certainly never been so irksome. She was anxious, too, about Mr. Abbott. He was still very much of an invalid, and they had not seen him for several months. In addition to all this, Peter’s illness would be a great expense to them, and Honor wondered how they should meet the doctor’s bills. She felt almost glad that her aunt was at Glen Arden; for, in spite of the many inconveniences which her presence brought, it also meant an increased income, and in the present state of their finances this was most important. To be sure, Blanch, indignant with the newcomer in the kitchen, had threatened more than once to leave, but that was one of the smaller vexations which, perhaps, could be avoided.