"Don't be alarmed!" I cried it's epilepsy, and will
soon pass!"
Glancing up, I saw that the little girl was sitting
very pale and quiet in the corner. The mother had pulled
a bottle out of her bag and was quite cool and helpful.
"He often has them," said she this is bromide."
"He is coming out," I answered; "you look after
Winnie."
I blurted it out because her head seemed to rock as
if she were going off; but the absurdity of the
thing struck us all next moment, and the mother burst
into a laugh in which the daughter and I joined. The son
had opened his eyes and had ceased to struggle.
"I must really beg your pardon," said I, as I helped
him up again. "I had not the advantage of knowing your
other name, and I was in such a hurry that I had no time
to think what I was saying."
They laughed again in the most good-humoured way,
and, as soon as the young fellow had recovered, we all
joined in quite a confidential conversation. It is
wonderful how the intrusion of any of the realities of
life brushes away the cobwebs of etiquette. In half an
hour we knew all about each other, or at any rate I knew
all about them. Mrs. La Force was the mother's name, a
widow with these two children. They had given up
housekeeping, and found it more pleasant to live in
apartments, travelling from one watering place to
another. Their one trouble was the nervous weakness of
the son Fred.
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