Before school started, Sam apologized to Cat for ripping up her arithmetic test and promised not to do it again. Cat didn't want to forgive him, but she did because she knew that she'd be in trouble if she didn't.
When Miss Winter returned the arithmetic tests to the students, Laura and Cat were thrilled to see that they had gotten all of the problems correct. However, they each lost half a point on the last problem because they forgot to reduce their answer to lowest terms. The two girls looked at each other and giggled.
As soon as the five children returned to the Ponderosa, Laura and Cat took their tests into the kitchen to show Hop Sing before anyone else. Hop Sing praised both girls and promised to make a special dessert for them. They also received a lot of praise from the rest of the family. Ben looked at the last problem and asked, "What happened with the last problem girls? Did you forget how to reduce your answer to lowest terms?"
"I don't know about Laura," replied Cat. "But I had to use the outhouse real bad. My test said it would run away if I went outside before finishing it. I didn't want to do it all over again, so I just hurried."
"I see. What about you Laura? Did you forget how to reduce your answer to lowest terms?"
"No, but my test said if I reduced my answer, it was going to bite me so I just turned it in."
"Well, we can't have arithmetic tests running away or biting you, so maybe next time you should do the last problem first. I know how much you struggle with arithmetic and I am very proud of both of you girls. Cat, as far as I know, that is the best grade you've ever gotten on an arithmetic test and you should be very proud of yourself. I know Hop Sing is going to make something special for your dessert tonight, and as a reward, I would let you and your friends camp out at the lake tonight and tomorrow night, but it's too cold outside and we're overdue for a blizzard. So, you and your friends may go ice skating right now, I will let you stay up late tonight and tomorrow night, or maybe we'll take moonlight sleigh rides after supper tonight and tomorrow. You'll just have to take your baths before supper tomorrow. It will be your decision. Talk it over on your way to and from the pond and tell me what you decided when you get home. Right now, the five of you had better get going before you run out of daylight."
The children rushed to get their hats, coats, and mittens on and then raced to the barn where they retrieved their ice skates from the tack room. On the way to the pond, they discussed their options for the night. Since they had never been on a sleigh ride, the boys weren't sure if it would be fun, so they opted to stay up late. Mary and Laura on the other hand had been on at least one sleigh ride every winter since Cat first started spending Christmas on the Ponderosa when she was five. They tried to convince the boys that sleigh rides were fun and they got to stay up even later than they would if they just chose the option of staying up late. "If we're lucky, Adam will bring his guitar & we can sing while we're riding," said Laura. "It was lots of fun at Christmas, especially when Andy was here. Both Adam and Andy brought their guitars and we sang Christmas carols during the ride."
"Laura's right," added Mary. "We got to stay out way past our bed time and got to sleep until breakfast was almost ready."
After listening to Mary and Laura, the boys decided the sleigh ride sounded like a lot of fun. "Will Hop Sing be allowed to come too?" asked Jasper.
"Yes," replied Cat. "He's family and Pa says he's always welcome to come with us. He won't want to but he will if I say I won't go unless he does too. Even though Pa said he could, he didn't even eat with the family except when I was here at Christmas, until Pa adopted me. I told him that I wouldn't eat if he didn't eat with us, so unless we have company, he eats with us now too."
The children spent several hours ice skating and made sure they were back at the house before it got dark. They told Ben that they had decided on sleigh rides and were going to tell Hop Sing he had to go on them too. Ben laughed and wished them luck. They walked into the kitchen and told Hop Sing that they were going on sleigh rides after supper that night and the next night also. Then they told him that he had to go on the sleigh rides too. "Hop Sing stay here and make cookies and hot cocoa for after sleigh ride."
"We can start the cookies now and get them ready to go in the oven," said Mary. "Then all you'll have to do is put them in the oven just before we eat."
"We'll mix the cocoa in the milk now," said Jasper. "It doesn't take long to get hot and you can heat it up when we get back from the sleigh ride," added Mike.
Hop Sing tried insisting on staying home when Cat said, "If you don't go on the sleigh rides, then I won't either."
Hop Sing sighed and said, "You more stubborn than Little Joe. Hop Sing go on sleigh rides."
"That's great!" exclaimed all of the children together.
"Please tell us where everything is we need to make the cookies," said Laura. "Then please tell us how much of everything we need so we can get them ready to go in the oven."
"While the girls are starting the cookies, Jas and I will mix cocoa in milk. Please tell us where the cocoa is and how much milk and cocoa we need."
Hop Sing told the children where everything was and how much they needed. Once they had everything they needed, they happily set about making cookies and getting the cocoa mixed into the milk. When they were finished and the cookies had been put onto baking sheets, Laura washed the dishes, Jasper rinsed them and the other three dried them and put them where Hop Sing said to. "Little girls and little boys always welcome in Hop Sing's kitchen. Make mess but clean up too. Go tell family supper ready in fifteen minutes, wash up and set table."
After supper, everyone got ready for the sleigh ride. The children begged and pleaded until Adam agreed to bring his guitar. He told them they were a bunch of pests and he was going to throw all of them in the trough when they got home.
"You can't do that," all of them said together.
"Why not? I'm bigger and stronger than all of you."
"Because Pa, Grandpa, and Hop Sing will get mad at you," replied Cat. "Then Hop Sing will use his big spoon on you and all of us will laugh at you."
Everyone enjoyed the sleigh ride and when they returned home, Hop Sing put the cookies back in the oven for a few minutes so they would be warm when the cocoa was. While everyone was enjoying hot cocoa and warm cookies, Jasper said, "Mr. Cartwright, the girls were right. Sleigh rides are a lot of fun. I've never been on one before and I really liked it. Thank you for taking us on one. I can't wait until tomorrow night to go on another one."
Mike echoed Jasper's words.
"You're welcome boys. I'm glad you enjoyed the sleigh ride. Now, if you children have finished your hot cocoa and cookies, it's time you were in bed. You've got a full day planned for tomorrow and you need to get a good night's sleep. You won't be able to go sledding, ice skating, and on a sleigh ride if you're tired."
When the children went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, Cat handed Ben a piece of paper that had been folded in half. "I forgot to give this to you yesterday."
"What's this?" asked Ben. "I hope you didn't get into another fight."
"No, I didn't get into another fight. Sam apologized and promised not to do it again. I don't know what it is. Miss Susan said it's something you asked her for at the school board meeting."
"Oh that's right. I had forgotten about it. Thank you for giving it to me. Kids, remember, if you want to go ice skating this afternoon, you need to be back here in time for dinner. Also, if we're going on another sleigh ride tonight, you will have to take your baths before supper because there won't be time when we get home."
The children had a good time sledding. They had many races down the mountain with each child winning at least one race. When it got close to dinner time, Mike told everyone that they only had time for one more run before they had to go back to the house. After dinner, they took their ice skates and walked to the pond where they were surprised to see a lean-to and firewood waiting for them.
While the children were ice skating, Adam was sitting in his chair with a drawing pad, pencil and eraser. He did a lot of erasing and threw several pieces of paper into the fire before he was happy with the final drawing. He handed his drawing pad to Joe and asked, "What do you think about this? Is it what you had in mind for a shelter for the kids while they're sledding?"
Joe looked at the drawing and exclaimed, "It's perfect Adam! In fact, it's better than what I thought of. I was thinking of a large line shack but you drew a small cabin. It has everything the kids would need to wait out a bad snowstorm or blizzard, a fireplace, small stove, three sets of bunk beds, a table and chairs, a sink with a pump, and a barn with a door leading to it from inside the cabin. I'm curious, what's this small building off to the right? I see you have a door going to it from inside the cabin as well as on the outside." Joe handed the drawing pad to Hoss, who looked at it, agreed with his younger brother, and handed it to Abel.
"It's a wood shed Joe. We can stock it and the kids won't have to go outside to get wood. I was thinking about making it a little larger with shelves in it. That way if they have any food that needs to be kept cold, they can put it in that shed and get to it without going outside. I don't want to attach an outhouse to the main cabin, but we can string a rope between it and the cabin so nobody will get lost if they need to use it when the weather is bad. If we keep it maintained, there is no reason it won't last many years. We'll just have to tell the kids that since they're the ones who will be using it, they'll be responsible for keeping it clean and letting us know if something needs to be repaired."
Abel, Hop Sing, and Ben agreed with everything Joe and Hoss said about Adam's drawing. "With cabin for little girls and little boys, maybe Mr. Cartwright not worry so much about them if it snow when they sledding. I know he always worry, but maybe he not worry so much," said Hop Sing.
Everyone laughed at Hop Sing's statement.
"Me, worry? I don't worry," said Ben. "I never worry about my children."
Everyone else laughed at Ben. "No Pa," said Adam. "You don't worry at all. That's why you sit by our beds all night when one of us is sick and were ready to burn Cat's sled and throw her ice skates in the rubbish when she and the boys were caught in a snowstorm. Hoss, Joe, what do you think Paul Martin would say about Pa saying he doesn't worry about us?"
"They'd probably here him laughing all the way in Boston," laughed Hoss. "Let's tell him tomorrow at church and see what he says."
"Hoss is right," added Joe. "I like the idea of telling him at church tomorrow. I'm sure that Paul and Virginia will enjoy starting their Sunday off with a laugh."
Hop Sing had the biggest laugh of all. "No, Mr. Cartwright never worry. Even though sons grown, he still take lamp and check on them when they asleep."
Adam decided to change the subject. "Hoss, Joe, even though Cat's tenth birthday is still six months away, I'd like the pair of you to spend some time in the next several months thinking about what the three of us can do for her. If we're going to build something, let me know when I get back from Boston so I have time to design it and we have time to build it. Grandfather, I was thinking, as long as we're going to take Cat to Philadelphia, we should take her to Gettysburg too. I looked at the map and it's only one hundred ten miles between the two cities. The next time someone goes to town, they can send a telegram to the train station in Carson City asking if there's a train between Philadelphia and Gettysburg."
"That is an excellent idea Adam," replied Abel. "I am positive that there is a train between the two cities. Cat's father wasn't killed at Gettysburg, was he? I'm concerned that if he was, seeing the battlefield and cemetery would be too traumatic for her."
"No," replied Ben. "I'm not sure which battle he was killed in, but it happened very late in eighteen sixty one. We didn't learn about his death until just after New Year's Day in eighteen sixty two. Lucas McCain arrived here with Michael's body a few days after we got the telegram. If you do go to Gettysburg and Cat asks if her father was killed there, you or Adam can honestly answer that he wasn't."
Several hours later, Ben became concerned that the children weren't back from ice skating. "Hoss, would you please go down to the pond and tell the children if we're going on a sleigh ride tonight, they need to come back to the house now?"
"Shore Pa. They was probably havin' so much fun they lost track of time." As he walked across the yard, Hoss heard laughter coming from the barn. He opened the door and saw the children hugging and petting the Cartwrights' horses. "Hi kids. Whatcha doin?"
"Hi Hoss," said Mike. "We were petting Fury and the girls were hugging and kissing him and the other horses got jealous so we had to pay attention to them too."
Hoss laughed. "Ya'll need to come in the house and get yore baths ifn we're goin' on a sleigh ride after supper. I'll go an' tell Pa ya'll be in the house in a few minutes."
When Hoss entered the house, Ben looked at him and said, "You weren't gone long enough to go to the pond and back."
"The kids are in the barn. They'll be in here in a few minutes. They're petting Fury, Sport, Chubby, Cochise, and Buck. Mike said that they was petting Fury and the girls were huggin' and kissin' him and our horses got jealous so's they had to pay attention to them too."
Everyone laughed at Hoss' statement. "Jealous horses," said Adam. "Now I've heard everything."
"It's true Adam," said Mary as the children walked into the great room. "Cochise was positively green with envy because Fury was getting so much attention."
Joe pretended to be worried. "How is he now? He's not green any more, is he?"
"No Joe," answered Laura. "Once I started petting, hugging, and kissing him, the green turned white again."
"That's good. I was afraid he would need medicine to make the green go away."
"Alright kids. You need to get ready to take your baths," laughed Ben. "The girls need to take theirs first because it takes their hair longer to dry and I don't want anyone going out in this cold weather with wet hair."
Once the children went upstairs, Abel said, "Benjamin, I think you had better tell the other parents that my granddaughter has taught their children how to tell tall tales. I am going to miss those four when they go home tomorrow."
"So am I Abel. At least I'll have the girls one weekend a month. Charles and Caroline have agreed to allow Laura and Mary to spend one weekend a month here. I should probably talk to Dan and Mary Devlin as well as Ted and Betsy King about letting the boys do the same thing."
"That's a great idea Pa," said Joe. "Cat will be over the moon if her friends are allowed to spend one weekend a month here. Of course, she wants them here all the time, but one weekend a month is better than them not being here at all."
After supper, everyone headed out for one more sleigh ride. The children coaxed Adam into bringing his guitar and once again, he threatened to throw all of them into the trough or Lake Tahoe. They just laughed at him and piled into the sleigh.
Because the children had spent the day outside sledding and ice skating, all of them were sound asleep by the time the sleigh ride was over. Hop Sing looked fondly at the little girl sleeping with her head on his shoulder and marveled at the changes she had brought to his life in the last four months. Although he had been invited to join the family for meals and outings many times, he had always declined and Ben had stopped inviting him. But things were different with Cat being there. As he had said, she was more stubborn than Joe and refused to take no for an answer so now here he was, joining the family for meals and outings and enjoying himself right along with them.
When they returned to the house, Ben and Abel debated whether or not to wake the children but Hop Sing said, "Little boys and little girls be upset if they no get hot cocoa and cookies. I have hot cocoa ready by the time they ready for bed." Just before the hot cocoa was finished, Hop Sing put several baking pans full of chocolate cookies in the oven so everyone would have warm cookies with their hot cocoa. Once the children finished their hot cocoa and cookies, knowing that the next morning four of them would be rejoining their families after church they reluctantly went upstairs to bed. Cat had enjoyed having her friends on the Ponderosa and was not looking forward to coming home after church without them.
Cat felt warm the next morning but decided it was just because someone had put more wood on the fire and another blanket on the bed, so she didn't say anything to any of the adults. The cold winter air felt good to her as everyone climbed into the surrey and headed for church. Knowing that they could get a blizzard any day and it would be several months before he could get to town, Hop Sing decided to ride with the family so he could visit his father and cousins. Ben dropped him off at Hop Ling's house before continuing on to the church.
When they reached the church, Adam, Hoss and Joe told Paul and Virginia Martin what their father had said about not worrying about his children. Knowing how Ben liked to hover when one of his children was sick or injured, they both enjoyed a good laugh.
Before beginning the service, Reverend Long said that he would like to have a brief meeting with the church elders right after the service. Everyone wondered what the meeting would be about, but he didn't say anything else.
During the sermon, Cat suddenly felt very hot and tired and fell asleep with her head on Mary's shoulder. Mary reached behind Laura and gently tugged at Mrs. Long's sleeve to get her attention. Joanne saw Cat sleeping on Mary's shoulder and noticed that her face was very flushed. Putting a hand on Cat's forehead, she realized that Cat had a high fever and interrupted the sermon. "Excuse me David. I'm sorry to interrupt your sermon. Ben, Cat is sick. She's asleep and running a fever. You need to have Paul check her out."
Adam was sitting on the aisle and walked up to the front where Joanne helped him get Cat into her hat, coat, and mittens. Cat woke up, saw the look on Adam's face and said, "Hi Adam. I don't feel so good. Are you mad at me?"
Adam hugged Cat tightly and said, "No little sister. I'm not angry at you. I'm just very worried about you. So is the rest of the family. We love you and don't want you to be sick." Adam picked his sister up and she promptly fell asleep in his arms. He carried her outside, followed by his family and Paul and Virginia Martin. When they reached the doctor's office, Adam carried his sister into the exam room and set her down on the bed. Ben tried following, but Paul told him to go and sit down with the rest of the family so he could do his job. Paul also tried shooing Lassie and Silver Chief out of the exam room, but they refused to leave their little girl.
After the Cartwrights and Martins left the church, Mrs. Warren turned to Mrs. Thomas and said in a loud voice, "You see Bertha. I was right about that thing. We can't even enjoy Sunday services without it causing some kind of problem. It should be in an orphanage or a work home, not here among the good people of Virginia City and those creatures that keep following it around should be shot It's a shame they weren't drowned when they were born." Mrs. Thomas agreed with her friend.
Mrs. Warren's comments made Mary very angry. She stood up, turned around, and said as loud as she could, "It's all your fault that Cat is sick. You wouldn't let us get the things we needed for school on Thursday so she had to wait out in the cold for almost an hour. Laura and I asked the three of you politely several times to please move away from the school supplies so we wouldn't be late, but you wouldn't move. You wanted us to be late so Cat would get in trouble with Miss Winter and her Pa. Mr. and Mrs. McLeod tried getting you to leave the store but you wouldn't and he finally had to get Sheriff Coffee and Deputy Clem to make you leave. You are mean, horrible, nasty women and I hope you go to Hell when you die because that's where you belong!" The women sat there in silence, stunned by Mary's words and by the fact that most of the congregation, including Mrs. Long and the boys who had been mean to Cat, started clapping at what she had said.
As usual, Ben couldn't stand being kept out of Paul's exam room when one of his children was being treated and walked in just as Paul was taking a thermometer out of Cat's mouth. While he was looking at it, she started coughing. It was a very deep cough and almost sounded like a dog barking. Ben became very upset and exclaimed, "My God Paul. My daughter is dying. Don't just stand there! Do something!"
Adam, Hoss, Joe, and Abel heard Cat coughing, rushed into the room and echoed Ben's words.
"This is exactly why I don't want any of you in here when I am treating one of your family members. None of you has a medical degree but you all claim to know exactly what is wrong when one of you is sick. Cat is not dying. She is very sick, but she is not dying. Now go back out where you were and let me finish examining her! I swear, if any of you come in here before you are told to, I will have Roy put you in jail so I can do my job!" He shooed the Cartwrights out and shut the door again. Then he turned to his wife and said, "Virginia, Cat's temperature is one hundred point five. We need to bring it down. Would you please get a bowl of cold water and a towel for her head? While you're doing that, I need to listen to her breathe. Judging from that cough, I know exactly what is wrong with her, but I still need to listen to her lungs."
It took longer than Paul thought it should before his wife returned, carrying a bowl of cold water with ice chunks in it. "Since Cat's fever is so high, I thought it would help bring it down faster if I put ice in the water. She has bronchitis, doesn't she?"
"Virginia, you are a wonder. You always think of things I didn't. Yes, Cat has bronchitis. Her lungs are very congested but at least it's not pneumonia. I'll deal with the congestion after we get her temperature down. Hop Sing will know what to do when Ben takes Cat home."
"I'll put some water on to boil so Cat can inhale the steam. I'll add eucalyptus to it after I take it off the stove."
"Thank you Dear. Sometimes I think you should be the one with the medical degree instead of me. There's a medical college for women back east and if I could stand being apart from you for that long, I'd enroll you tomorrow."
While Paul and Virginia were treating Cat, Ben looked at his sons and asked, "Will one of you please go and tell Hop Sing that Cat is sick and we'll be going home as soon as Paul is done treating her? He should be at his father's house."
"I'll go and get him," said Hoss. "Sitting here, waiting for Paul to tell us what's wrong with little sister is driving me crazy."
Hoss walked over to Chinatown and knocked on Hop Ling's door. Hop Sing opened the door and asked, "Why you here early? Where rest of family?"
"Pa sent me to tell you that Cat is sick. She's at Paul's office now and we're takin' her home as soon as he's done with her."
"What long with Missy Cat?"
"She's got a fever and a cough that sounds like a dog barking."
Hop Sing and his father conversed in Chinese for a minute. Then Hop Ling went into another room and returned with a jar containing an herb. He filled two envelopes with it and handed them to Hop Sing who put one in his pocket and added the other one to a large bundle laying on a table. After saying goodbye to his father, Hop Sing looked at Hoss and said, "We go to doctor's now. Hop Sing need to talk to him about what wrong with Missy Cat."
When they reached Paul's office, Hop Sing ignored the family and walked into the exam room. Paul looked up to see who was coming in and got a large smile on his face when he saw Hop Sing. "Hello Hop Sing. It is nice to see you old friend. If I had known you were in town, I would have sent for you, but I'm glad you're here now."
"Nice to see you too Doctor Paul. What wrong with Missy Cat?"
"She's a very sick little girl. She has bronchitis. She has a high fever and her lungs are very congested. We're using cold water with ice in it to bring the fever down. Once it comes down, I'm going to put some eucalyptus in boiling water and have her inhale the steam."
"Very good. Doctor Paul good man. Hop Sing do same when Missy Cat get home." He took the envelope out of his pocket, handed it to Paul and said, "Honorable father send more eucalyptus to good Doctor. He know you wise man and know what to do for Missy Cat."
"Thank you Hop Sing. I will be sure to thank your father when I see him. I was getting low on eucalyptus and had planned to buy some from him this week. Since he gave this to me, I will find something to give him in return."
"Hop Ling likes my ginger cookies," said Virginia. "I'll bake some tomorrow and we can take them to him when they're cool."
Hop Sing smiled broadly. "Cookies will be perfect gift for Honorable father. He always tell me how much he like them. How Missy Cat's fever?"
Just then, Cat woke up and started coughing again. Virginia helped her sit up and held a bowl under her face in case she coughed anything up. Paul took the bowl from his wife and asked, "Will you please put the boiling water into a bowl, add the eucalyptus, and bring it in here with a large towel?"
When Virginia returned with the boiling water, Hop Sing took the bowl from her and held it in front of Cat while the Martins put the towel over her head and the bowl. "Breathe deep through mouth," said Hop Sing. "This help you feel better."
"Paul, you had better go and tell Cat's family what's wrong with her before they come barging in here. We all know what Ben's like when one of his children is sick or hurt," said Virginia.
Reverend Long walked in just as Paul walked into the waiting area of his office. "Paul, how is Cat? I thought all of you would like to know that the church elders voted to exclude Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Thomas, and Mrs. Anders from church services until Holy Week. They will not be allowed to attend the Palm Sunday service, but they will be allowed to attend services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Alex Samuels, Ted King, and the others are on their way to inform them of the decision now."
"Good," said Paul. "Those women need to be taught a lesson."
"After what Mary Ingalls said to the women, the elders really didn't have much choice." He told them what Mary had said & about everybody's response.
"I wish I had been there to hear it," said Paul. Everyone else agreed with him. "To answer your question, Cat has bronchitis. She had a high fever and her lungs are very congested. Her temperature was one hundred point five and a normal temperature is ninety eight point six, so as you can see, it was almost two degrees above normal." When he saw the worried look on Ben's face he said, "That is not a dangerously high temperature. It means that her body is fighting an infection. Virginia and I have managed to bring the temperature down some and you will need to get it lower. Right now, we are working on the congestion in her lungs, but it will be days before it's gone.
Hop Sing knows what to do. Cat needs to inhale steam from boiling water with eucalyptus in it several times a day. For the first few days, I would prefer she do that once an hour, but don't wake her to do it. That will help to loosen the congestion and bring up the mucus when she coughs. Cat needs to rest and be kept warm. She does not have to stay in bed. In fact, during the day, it will be better if she is on the settee. Then the bowl of water can be put on the table and she can sit with a towel over her head and the bowl. Also, you can move the settee closer to the fireplace, so she won't be cold. Bronchitis is not as bad as pneumonia, but if it's not taken care of, it will turn into pneumonia. If Cat wants to eat, let her eat as much as she wants. If she doesn't want to eat, try and get some soup into her. Take your little girl home Ben and make sure she stays warm and gets plenty of rest. You know what to do if her fever gets high again, which it might. Send one of your sons to get the surrey because I don't want her out in the cold any longer than necessary. I'll be out in a few days to check on her. Send for me if she gets worse. Don't worry about the bill. I fully intend to give it to each of those three women. They are responsible for Cat being sick and they can pay the bill."
When Hoss returned with the surrey, Ben put Cat in the back seat and Virginia came outside, carrying a quilt. She handed it to Ben and said, "Take this and bundle Cat up in it."
"That's not necessary. She'll be plenty warm in her coat."
Virginia got upset. "Benjamin Cartwright, where is your brain today? Your daughter is very sick and needs to be kept as warm as possible. You have a long drive back to the Ponderosa, it's very cold outside and that coat is not enough to keep her warm until you get home! In fact, just to make sure she stays warm, I am going to get another quilt to wrap her in."
When Virginia returned with a second quilt, Ben apologized to her. "I'm sorry Virginia. I just thought that the cold air would help to bring Cat's fever down."
"If her fever was dangerously high, I would have immersed her in cold water for a few minutes to bring it down in a hurry," said Paul, joining the group. "However, that is not necessary right now. Wrap her in the quilts." He had a muffler in his hands and said, "Cat, I'm going to wrap this around your face so your nose and mouth are covered. Breathing the cold air into your lungs will make them worse and nobody wants that. When you get home, I want you resting in bed or on the settee. If you need something, ask somebody to get it for you. I don't mind if you want to sit up and read or draw if you feel up to it, but you are to rest and stay warm! If nobody is around, send one of your dogs to get someone. Listen to Hop Sing and do what he tells you to do. He knows what to do to help you feel better. Lassie, Silver Chief, if your little girl falls asleep and kicks her covers off, get somebody to put them back on her. She's a very sick little girl and needs to stay warm. Don't let her get up and walk around the house either. She won't get well if she doesn't rest."
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a/n: What can be considered the first modern thermometer, the mercury thermometer with a standardized scale, was invented by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714.
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was the German physicist who invented the alcohol thermometer in 1709 and the mercury thermometer in 1714. In 1724, he introduced the standard temperature scale that bears his name—Fahrenheit scale—that was used to record changes in temperature in an accurate fashion.
English physician Sir Thomas Allbutt (1836–1925) invented the first practical medical thermometer used for taking the temperature of a person in 1867. It was portable, 6 inches in length, and able to record a patient's temperature in 5 minutes.