Mabel Fox; Or, Love Wins (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1881 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. MABEL S REWARD. 0 one could be better fitted than Caroline Rose to take care of Mabel. Mrs Fox at first refused to let any one share with her the nursing of her darling; but when Miss Rose pointed out how impossible it would be for her to take the whole care of Mabel whilst she had the other children, who needed constant attention; when she urged, with gentle firmness, the importance of perfect quiet, the mother finally yielded and gave her the whole charge of her child. Day after day passed, and no ray of consciousness came to Mabel. She lay upon the bed, her eyes half open, her breath coming so faintly she scarce seemed to breathe at all; and ever and anon the watcher put a small mirror to her lips to see if there really was life. Her arms were crossed upon her breast, and she looked like a marble statue. Miss Rose wet her mouth often, and put occasionally a few drops of milk between her closed lips. How long seemed the days and hours whilst this precious life hung upon such a slender thread. The poor grandmother went and came, haunting the room, unable to do anything except to pray with an agony of dread for the child's life. Not a word had been heard from Mr Fox since the day of the accident. No one would have known anything about him had not Miss Rose, by chance, got a clue. Mabel's room opened out upon a terrace; and the first night of the accident Miss Rose was startled by a creaking of the blind. They were movable ones, and, looking quickly up, she saw it turn so that a person outside could look in. Her first impulse was to scream; but, having perfect control of her nerves, she kept quiet, retreating a little into the shadow. A gleam of light fell upon the window, and she saw just enough to be convinced it was Joe Fox, thus stealing in to...