When you look after three pairs of twins you naturally get a lot of experience . They all had croup regularly . Just wait till I get the ipecac bottle -- you may n't have any at your house . Come on now . '' The two little girls hastened out hand in hand and hurried through Lover 's Lane and across the crusted field beyond , for the snow was too deep to go by the shorter wood way . Anne , although sincerely sorry for Minnie May , was far from being insensible to the romance of the situation and to the sweetness of once more sharing that romance with a kindred spirit . The night was clear and frosty , all ebony of shadow and silver of snowy slope ; big stars were shining over the silent fields ; here and there the dark pointed firs stood up with snow powdering their branches and the wind whistling through them . Anne thought it was truly delightful to go skimming through all this mystery and loveliness with your bosom friend who had been so long estranged . Minnie May , aged three , was really very sick . She lay on the kitchen sofa feverish and restless , while her hoarse breathing could be heard all over the house . Young Mary Joe , a buxom , broad-faced French girl from the creek , whom Mrs. Barry had engaged to stay with the children during her absence , was helpless and bewildered , quite incapable of thinking what to do , or doing it if she thought of it . Anne went to work with skill and promptness . `` Minnie May has croup all right ; she 's pretty bad , but I 've seen them worse . First we must have lots of hot water . I declare , Diana , there is n't more than a cupful in the kettle ! There , I 've filled it up , and , Mary Joe , you may put some wood in the stove . I do n't want to hurt your feelings but it seems to me you might have thought of this before if you 'd any imagination . Now , I 'll undress Minnie May and put her to bed and you try to find some soft flannel cloths , Diana . I 'm going to give her a dose of ipecac first of all . '' Minnie May did not take kindly to the ipecac but Anne had not brought up three pairs of twins for nothing .
Down that ipecac went , not only once , but many times during the long , anxious night when the two little girls worked patiently XXXXX the suffering Minnie May , and Young Mary Joe , honestly anxious to do all she could , kept up a roaring fire and heated more water than would have been needed for a hospital of croupy babies .
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