CHAPTER SEVENA pitiful cry rose from Madelina and she then sank to the floor. She knew no more until she felt a damp cloth on her brow and two hands chaffing her own.
“Miss Madelina! Miss Madelina!”
She dimly heard a voice calling her name, but the darkness enfolding her seemed infinitely better than cruel reality that she wanted to stay there.
She fought against her returning consciousness, but nature proved the stronger. Her eyes fluttered open and at once filled with tears.
Beth knelt at her side, whilst Mrs. Winston stood anxiously behind holding a lamp.
“Oh, Madelina! What a scare you gave us!”
Madelina put a hand across her eyes to shield them from the glare of the lamp and Mrs. Winston hurried to put the lamp on a table.
“He is gone!” whispered Madelina in desolation.
“Gone!
