Her own Way by Eglanton Thorne

VERY early the next morning, so early that the familiar roads and houses looked strangely unlike themselves, Salome and Juliet drove up to the gate of The Poplars. It was an hour by which, even on a week-day, few persons have quitted their beds, and this was Sunday, though both Juliet and Salome were oblivious of the fact. Every blind visible at the front of the house was closely drawn.

Juliet, shivering, as she looked out of the cab, from the combined effects of excitement and the chill of the early morn, did not pause to reflect that she had never before looked at her home from the outside at that hour. The closed windows could suggest to her but one idea, and she turned deadly pale as she gasped out, "Oh, the blinds-the blinds are all down!"

"As they always are at this hour," said Salome, in her matter-of-fact way; "do you suppose we sleep with our blinds up?"

Juliet looked somewhat relieved. They advanced to the door. The knocker was muffled, and produced so slight a sound, that Juliet hardly expected they would gain admittance; but Hannah must have been looking out for them, for after a few minutes she opened the door, attired in a dressing-gown, and wearing the haggard look of one who has been watching all night.

She drew Salome in and kissed her with an air of welcome; but after giving Juliet a brief, cold stare, she turned her shoulder on her and addressed herself to Salome.

"Oh, I am so thankful you have come! I have wanted you very much these last two days."

"How is mother? " asked Salome.

"Very ill. She has not slept at all. Dr. Gardner fears for her brain. Her mind is wandering now. She keeps talking and talking and calling for Juliet."

Hannah paused, and cast a hard, reproachful glance at Juliet.

"I hope you are satisfied, Juliet, with what you have done," she said.

"Oh, don't, Hannah," interposed Salome swiftly; "don't be hard on Juliet! She has suffered enough."

Hannah looked on her young sister's altered face, and felt that her words were cruel. The wavy golden hair escaping from the little travelling-cap framed a face which was utterly colourless save for the blueness of the lips, and which had a wan, pinched look strangely in contrast to its childish contour. Grief will often bring a look of age even to a young face, and the anguish and remorse which had been working in Juliet's mind through the long hours of the night had left their impress. It was not a girl, but a grief-stricken woman, who looked at Hannah with a mute appeal for mercy in her melancholy eyes.

"What does Dr. Gardner say? Tell me," she demanded breathlessly. "He does not think she will die?"

"He is very much afraid," Hannah answered, choosing her words carefully. "He said if you did not come soon, it would be too late; but he thought your coming might save her."

A sob broke from Juliet. She turned in haste to the staircase. She would have gone at once, as she was, into her mother's presence; but Hannah checked her, and went first to acquaint the nurse with her coming.

A few minutes later, Juliet entered the familiar room. The windows were so darkened that she could hardly see her way across it. There was a strong smell of vinegar. Was it her mother's form moving so restlessly on the bed? Was the voice which sounded so hollow and so far-away indeed her mother's? Juliet drew nearer, and words became audible.

"Oh, Juliet! Oh, my child! " wailed the weary voice. "Is she lost-lost? Tell them they must find her. She cannot have wandered so far-away. The jungle is a terrible place. There are tigers there-tigers and snakes-oh, such horrible snakes! And she such a tender little darling. Oh, why did I not take better care of her? Why did I trust her out of my sight? Juliet! Juliet!"

"Speak to her," said the nurse, drawing Juliet close to the bedside, "speak to her; she will know your voice, perhaps."

Juliet's voice was so choked by sobs that for a few moments she could not command it; but with a desperate effort she controlled herself, and bending close to her mother, she said-

"Mother, I am here. I have come back to you. Look up and see. It is I, your Juliet."