She would send a telegram
to Dr. Parkman that Karl must come. Perhaps he could be here
to-night;--to-morrow, surely. Dear Karl--who needed a vacation more than
he? Who needed the rejuvenation of the spring as Karl needed it?
She had walked but a little way when she stopped. Someone was coming
toward her, walking fast. Had the sun grown a little dim--or was
something passing before her eyes? The world seemed to darken. She looked
again at Mrs. Rolfe, coming toward her. How strange that she shivered!
Was it a little chilly up here on the hill-top where a minute before it
had been so soft and warm? She wanted to go to meet Mrs. Rolfe, but she
did not; she stood strangely still, waiting. And why was it that the
figure of Mrs. Rolfe was such a blur on the beauty of the hillside?
But when at last she saw her face she did run to meet her. "What is the
matter?"--her voice was quick and sharp.
The woman hesitated.
"Tell me!" demanded Ernestine. "I will not be treated like that!"
"Dr. Parkman wants you to come home," the woman said, not looking
Ernestine in the face.
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