“I shall only be too delighted to go and sit in the room and do anything the nurse says. I have always been fond of Piers. He has been like a little brother to me.” “Barbara, I shall die if my only child is taken from me.” “But he may be spared,” exclaimed Barbara eagerly. There was hope in her young voice. Mrs. Pelham dried her tears. “Go up and see him, Barbara,” she said. “Go now, at once; the nurse may try to prevent it, but insist on seeing him. He ought not to be left alone with that strange woman, and she never likes me to be long in the room. Children have got better, haven’t they, even when the doctors have given them up?” “Over and over again,” said Barbara. “Yes, I’ll go up at once.” She left the drawing-room and ran up-stairs. She knew Piers’s beautiful room well, and softly opened the door. Within was darkness. A woman in full nurse’s dress confronted the girl. “What do you want? You must not come in here,” said Nurse Ives. “My name is Evershed,” said Barbara, dropping her voice to a very low tone. “I have come to see Piers. I am one of his greatest friends. I have known him all his life. May I come in and sit with him for a little? I should like it so much, and I would be quiet. I would do just what you wished.” “You cannot come in,” said the nurse. “I cannot permit it. No stranger is to be allowed to come into the room. I am acting on the doctor’s authority.” As Nurse Ives spoke Barbara found herself edged, against her will, on to the landing. A very weak voice inside the room called her name—“Barbara! Barbara!” “Oh, he heard my voice; he wants me. Do—do, nurse, let me go to him—please, nurse.” “I cannot,” said the nurse. “Stay where you are for a moment. I will go back to him.” She reentered the room and said something to the child which Barbara could not hear, and returned. “You cannot see the boy—I have Dr. Tarbot’s orders. Now please go away. I must return to him immediately.” As the woman spoke she went back to the sick-room and shut the door in Barbara’s face. Just for a moment the girl lingered on the landing, then a resolved expression filled her eyes. “You will not let me in without Dr. Tarbot’s permission. Then I will go and obtain it,” she said aloud. “I will see Piers, come what may.” She ran down-stairs. Mrs. Pelham met her on the landing. “Well?” she said eagerly. “Did you see him? What did you think of him? Was the nurse very unpleasant? Oh, Barbara dear, I shall go mad if nothing is done! Oh, if I could only get that woman out of the house!” “She seems a good and capable nurse,” said Barbara. “Don’t get too nervous, please, Mrs. Pelham. The boy is ill, and I should like beyond anything to be with him. No, dear, she would not let me see him. He heard me, and called me, the darling; but she would not let me in. I have made up my mind, however. I am going straight off now to get Dr. Tarbot’s permission. If he says I may see Piers, it will be all right.”