Aunt Patty's Paying Guests by Eglanton Thorne

WHEN Dr. Poole arrived, he confirmed Miss Cottrell's verdict. Happily the doctor was an eminently practical man, and, being an old friend of aunt's, he was disposed to regard the matter as much from her point of view as from that of Josiah Dicks. So he decided that the best thing possible in the circumstances was to remove the patient to a house in the village. He assured her father that the removal could be accomplished without risk of harm to her; but he had considerable difficulty with Mr. Dicks before he could persuade him to consent to this arrangement.

Aunt Patty and I have often said since that we do not know what we should have done without Miss Cottrell at this juncture. She rose to the occasion in the most wonderful way, and showed herself so thoughtful and expeditious that we could quite understand how the Lady Mowbray, of whom we had heard so much, had found her invaluable. She it was who suggested the house to which Paulina was conveyed, a modern "villa" belonging to a widow who was glad to let her best apartments, and was willing to receive an infectious case on the handsome terms offered by Mr. Dicks.

Miss Cottrell won his consent to the plan by proposing to accompany Paulina to this house, and remain with her there till she was convalescent. He gladly closed with the offer, and she earned his lasting gratitude. I must, however, in justice to Miss Cottrell, admit that, in spite of the esteem for wealth and position which she so openly displayed, I do not think that her action on this occasion was prompted by the fact that the patient was a rich man's daughter. I believe that she would have done as much for any one of us, for she dearly loved managing people, and, although she had not received a hospital training, she was in her element in a sickroom. She wore a happy face whenever she entered the room where I remained an unwilling prisoner. Hurriedly she would tell me how things were proceeding, and then disappear.

Everything was done with the greatest possible celerity. Colonel Hyde had been induced to take Agneta for a long drive almost immediately after breakfast. The widow's rooms were in excellent order, so it did not take long to prepare them for the reception of the patient and her guardian. The doctor sent out an ambulance and a trained nurse from Chelmsford, and by mid-day Paulina's removal was effected. Then the business of disinfection was begun, and presently aunt came to me.

"Well, Nan," she said with a smile as she opened the door, "is your patience pretty well exhausted?"

"I am afraid it has come to an end, auntie," I replied, marvelling to see her so calm, though her face looked pale and tired.

"Poor child! It is no wonder," she said. "Now come into the garden with me. We will talk in the fresh air."

I was glad enough to get outside. As we walked up and down the lawn aunt told me that Dr. Poole had decided that it would be wise to separate me from the others for a while.

"You must not let it frighten you," Aunt Patty said. "The doctor quite hopes that you have escaped infection, but for the sake of my guests it is right to guard against the possibility of a second case in the house. I cannot bear to send you away, but Mrs. Hobbes has a nice little room which she lets sometimes, and if you would not mind sleeping there just for a week till we see how things turn out."

"Of course I shall not mind," I replied. "Fancy staying at Hobbes's cottage-that will be truly rural."

And I smiled at the idea of sojourning for a week in the pretty thatched cottage which was our gardener's home. It stood in a lane running off the common, and was so picturesque that artists often painted it.

"Of course we can come to see you," said my aunt, "and you need not avoid us as long as you keep well. It is chiefly for Agneta's sake that I take this precaution. I do not think the gentlemen are in any danger, but I want to assure Mrs. Redmayne that I am taking all possible care of her child."

"And if I should develop the fever, I suppose you will commit me to Miss Cottrell's care at 'Ivy House," I said.

"Oh, there is little fear of that," said my aunt hastily. "I am glad that Paulina likes Miss Cottrell better than you do."

"Ah, but she has gone up immensely in my estimation during the last few hours! " was my reply.

"There is no doubt she has excellent qualities," said my aunt warmly, "if only she were content to be her simple, honest self, and not attempt to seem something different, which is such a fatal mistake."

Presently I took my way to the gardener's cottage. It was the kind of abode which would be called "idyllic" nowadays. Mrs. Hobbes, a dear old woman, who had been cook at Squire Canfield's before her marriage, was delighted to welcome me. She was very proud of the small garden in which her husband managed to grow specimens of almost every variety of flower. She showed me, too, her bees, and boasted of the amount of honey they produced. I thought it no wonder when I saw the wealth of flowers from which they could cull nectar, to say nothing of the glorious common, golden with gorse, lying beyond.

I listened with pleasure to Mrs. Hobbes as she talked of her bees, but found her conversation less interesting when she began to describe all the cases of scarlet fever which had come within her knowledge. Her memory had treasured up every harrowing detail of the cases which had proved fatal, and she spared me none of them.

"Ah, it's a terrible complaint! " she was saying. "If it hasn't killed them outright, I've known it make people deaf or lame for the rest of their lives. I do hope you may not have taken it, miss, for there's no saying what it will leave behind-" when to my relief I saw John coming down the lane with the small trunk aunt had promised to pack for me.