Law! they had to even
shave his head."
"Is he any better?" asked Lizzie, with a sinking heart. "Can I see him?"
"'Praps you can, if you go to the hospital to-morrow; but whether you'll
find him living or dead is more than I can say. I couldn't keep him here--I
wasn't able to stand him. I've had the fever myself--he took it from me.
You must come in," continued the woman, "if you want to talk--I'm afraid of
catching cold, and can't stand at the door. Maybe you're afraid of the
fever," she further observed, as she saw Lizzie hesitate on the door-step.
"Oh, no, I'm not afraid of that," answered Lizzie quickly--"I am not in the
least afraid."
"Come in, then," reiterated the woman, "and I'll tell you all about it."
The woman looked harmless enough, and Lizzie hesitated no longer, but
followed her through the entry into a decently furnished room. Setting the
candlestick upon the mantelpiece, she offered her visitor a chair, and then
continued--
"He came home this last time in an awful state. Before he left some one
sent him a load of money, and he did nothing but drink and gamble whilst it
lasted. I used to tell him that he ought to take care of his money, and
he'd snap his fingers and laugh. He used to say that he owned the goose
that laid the golden eggs, and could have money whenever he wanted it.
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