"Then that, no doubt, will be the best plan. It may be only for a few days—it may be longer. You had no difficulty last night, I hope—as to keeping the room quiet?" No; Pattie could assure him of this. Cragg, warned by the doctor, had taken the matter in hand, and had insisted on his wife's compliance. The doctor had spoken to Mrs. Cragg also, telling her plainly that Dot's life might hang upon the question of absolute quiet, and desiring that Pattie should be allowed to decide who might or might not be present. "She seems a sensible girl," he said, "and evidently knows a good deal about nursing. Let her use her commonsense, and I do not think it will lead her astray." But if Pattie had had no actual difficulties, she foresaw very actual disagreeables. Mrs. Cragg's look, when she did enter the room, was by no means pleasant. "You've got your way, and you can manage my husband and the doctor as you choose," she muttered. "But what can you mean? I am only trying to do my best for Dot," said Pattie, in a low voice. "Oh, I know!" retorted Mrs. Cragg. "Some folks are never happy without they’re managing everybody. I know." Then Cragg, hearing the loud whisper, interposed: "Now, my dear, this is just what doctor forbids!" Mrs. Cragg walked grumbling to herself; and Pattie turned again to the bed, her eyes full of tears. CHAPTER XVI The Course of Events THAT Pattie should be counted able to nurse Dot, when she—Mrs. Cragg— was not able, aroused Mrs. Cragg's jealous temper to an unpleasant extent. She knew herself to be incapable, and she would not have undertaken the nursing, had she been asked to do so. But now that she had not been asked, now that she had been ousted in favour of another, she regarded herself as a deeply injured individual; and she was angry with Pattie. This made Pattie's work harder than it would otherwise have been. She did not see much of Mrs. Cragg, for almost her whole time, from morning till evening, was spent with Dot; and when not engaged in the sick-room she was usually, by the doctor's orders, either walking or resting. Still, encounters were inevitable; and if anything were wanted, if any doubt or question arose, Mrs. Cragg immediately sided against Pattie. Even the thought of what might be good for Dot could not make headway against her temper. Happily for Pattie, the new nurse was a sensible kind-hearted woman; and an appeal to her would always settle matters as might be desirable for the child. But Pattie could not rouse her unnecessarily from well-earned sleep, and that was the time when difficulties occurred. Cragg was very unhappy during these days of suspense. Dot was his darling, his treasure, the light of his home; and the thought of losing her was terrible to him.