David was quite a personage in Old Chester for a few days. Mrs.
Richie was his slave, and hardly left him day or night; Dr. King came
to see him five times in one week; Mrs. Barkley sent him some wine
jelly in a sheaf-of-wheat mould; Dr. Lavendar climbed the hill on two
afternoons, to play dominoes with him, though, as it happened, Mrs.
Richie was not present either day to watch the game. The first time
she had just gone to lie down, Sarah said; the second time she had
that moment started out to walk--"Why, my goodness!" said Sarah, "she
must 'a' just gone! She was here not a minute ago. I should 'a'
thought she'd 'a' seen you tyin' up at the gate?"

"Well, evidently she didn't," Dr. Lavendar said, "or she would have
waited. Tell her I'm sorry to miss her, Sarah." Then, eagerly, he went
on up-stairs to David.

William King, too, was scarcely more fortunate; he only found her at
home once, so at the end of the week he was unable to tell her that
David was improving. It was, of course, necessary that she should be
told this; so that was why he and Jinny continued to come up the hill
for another week. At any rate that was the explanation he gave his
Martha. "I must let her know just when David can go back to school,"
he said. And Martha, with a tightening lip remarked that she should
have supposed a woman of Mrs. Richie's years could use her own
judgment in such a matter.