The Ordeal of Sister Cuthbert
between the windows opposite the door, and took her station at its head. In the bed lay her mother, with closed eyes; she seemed to breathe, but that was all. Dr. Sedgwick held the sick woman's hand in his, counting the pulse. Beside him stood a strange man with a professional air whom the nun had never seen before. At the foot of the bed knelt her father, his face hidden in the counterpane, and her sister Edith sat in a large chair near him, her head buried in her hands. The physicians talked softly, but the nun could not hear what they said. This did not surprise her, nor the fact that no one observed her entrance. She looked steadily at her mother's face and saw the eyelids flicker. The physicians bent over their patient. They worked rapidly. Something was done; something that looked like a battery was applied. There was a quantity of apparatus near the bed, unfamiliar to her. At last the mother's eyes opened. She alone of those in the room saw the black-robed novice at the head of the bed. Over her face flashed a look of recognition and delight.
"Katherine," she gasped. "You have come—how good—dear child—now I can die content."
She smiled the old familiar smile, and closed her eyes. Over her face a gray shadow fell. Even as the nun looked the features seemed to
217
