There was a little porch with a stone flooring, and here several children were playing.

The door stood open.

At my knock Mrs.
Hoden bade me come in.

Evidently Steele was not there, so I went in with the girls.
"Mrs.Hoden, I've brought Miss Sampson and her cousin to see you," I said cheerfully.
The little room was not very light, there being only one window and the door; but Mrs.Hoden could be seen plainly enough as she lay, hollow-cheeked and haggard, on a bed.

Once she had evidently been a woman of some comeliness.