'Drink this,' he said, pouring out a draught for me; it will revive you. You will try not to? Nay, you must make up your mind not to, for your mother's sake. We never know what we can do. Why, we can conquer pain, if we are strong-willed enough. I was explaining about your mother. She is so delicately and exquisitely susceptible, that to have those about her whom she loves may contribute more to her recovery than anything all the doctors in London could do. She is in a state of delirium at present; under the most favourable circumstances, she is likely to remain in this state for a week or two, probably for longer. If, when she recovers her senses, the first face she looks upon and recognises is a face that she loves, it may not only contribute to her recovery, it may accomplish it. On the other hand, if she misses a face that is dear to her, and that she has been accustomed to see about her, it may cause a relapse, and prove fatal. I have tried to make myself clear, and to give you a good reason why you must keep well. Don't mope. If you have any private grief of your own, keep it under until this peril is past.' I thanked him, and left him. I told Josey West exactly what the doctor had said, and she returned the compliment he had paid her of calling her a sensible little woman by saying that he was a sensible man. 'And now, Chris,' she said, 'you must go to bed.' I said that I would sit up with my mother, and tried to persuade Josey to lie down; but she refused, saying rest was more necessary to me than to her. 'In the first place, you have your work to do; that must not be neglected for all the Jessie Trims in the world. Oh, yes, my dear. You may shake your head, but I've been remarkably quiet all through, and I think I'm entitled to say a few words.' 'I'll not stop to hear anything spoken against her,' I said. 'That's right. Fly up. You think you're fonder of her than I am. That you can't be. But I'm not satisfied with her, and I sha'n't be until I get all this explained. There's something behind it that neither you nor I suspect, or my name isn't Josey West.' 'That's what Turk says,' I interposed. 'I expect you've been leading him a fine life to-night. Poor Turk! Why, he worships the ground she walks upon. I tell you what it is, my sweet child,' she said sarcastically, there's more lessons than one you've got to learn. But to come back. There's some mystery behind all this; but it might be one thing, and it might be another. I'm in a whirl, that's what I am, my dear.' I really think Josey administered these words to me as a kind of medicine. But she could not deceive me as to the feelings she entertained for Jessie. If any person had dared in her presence to say a word against her friend, she would have been the first to defend her. 'Josey,' I said, 'I shall feel much relieved if you will promise me one thing.' 'That depends. I'm not going to open my mouth and shut my eyes.'