"I wonder if I'm going to die? Perhaps I ought to warn somebody or--or do something. I wonder?" She asked herself this question one late afternoon as she finished tying up the parcel of completed blouses, and found that she could not walk across the room with them without staggering and reeling. She recalled a ghastly account she had read in the paper, of a man who had died in a locked-up flat, and was never discovered until his corpse decomposed and soaked through the floor to the ceiling below. "Mrs. Harbert is just underneath me. I wonder if she would move if that happened?" Evarne grimly and wretchedly pondered as she commenced to descend the stairs. Ere she was half-way down she suddenly stood still. What was happening? Why was there that vast yawning pit below? It wasn't real--no, she knew it--but all the same it made her dizzy. She grew blind, and her brain seemed to heave madly. Dropping her parcel, she pressed both hands over her eyes. Was she swaying to and fro, or were the stairs rocking beneath her feet? She made a wild clutch at the banisters, but her fingers closed only upon the air. She was falling--falling--yet could not save herself, and a scream of terror rang through the house ere unconsciousness closed in upon her, and she fell with a dull thud down to the landing below. CHAPTER XXVI EVARNE'S VOCATION When Evarne next opened her eyes she was lying cosily enough in bed. What a strange troubled sleep she had had, so full of confused dreams! Instantly came a fear of oversleeping, and she made an effort to rise. But the attempt was vain; even her half-opened lids were insupportably heavy. Languidly she let them droop, and then knew nothing more until a spoon was placed to her lips, and she felt some warm liquid meandering down her throat. At this the heavy lids were lifted widely in astonishment. "Bravo! My pretty dolly is made to open its eyes!" cried a cheery voice, and there by her side was old Mrs. Harbert, gazing at her smilingly. Evarne looked slowly around. This was not her own room--no--all those artist's studies--where was it? Then she remembered. She must surely be in Mrs. Harbert's own domain. Her lips shaped the words, "What am I doing here?" "Ah, ha! My dolly talks," was the only answer she received. The girl tried to arouse herself further, but enthralled by a heavy lethargy, she abandoned the attempt, and gradually fell asleep once more. When next she awoke the sharp sound of a falling cup had aroused her more thoroughly. She lifted her head slightly from the pillow. There stood Mrs. Smithkins, looking at her with much concern. "Lor' now, I do 'ope I 'aven't done no 'arm by wakin' yer up!" "Am I ill?" whispered Evarne. "You've bin at death's door," impressively replied Mrs. Smithkins, with obvious satisfaction. "I remember. I was going downstairs. Did I fall? Tell me everything." "The doctor says yer ain't to speak."