Besides, whoever takes charge of Phil must be prepared
for a long absence,--at least a year. It must be either Clover or myself;
and as it seems out of the question that I shall drop my practice for a
year, Clover is the person."
"Phil is seventeen now," suggested Katy. "That is not so very young."
"No, not if he were in full health. Plenty of boys no older than he have
gone out West by themselves, and fared perfectly well. But in Phil's
condition that would never answer. He has a tendency to be low-spirited
about himself too, and he needs incessant care and watchfulness."
"Out West," repeated Katy. "Have you decided, then?"
"Yes. The letter I had yesterday from Hope, makes me pretty sure that St.
Helen's is the best place we have heard of."
"St. Helen's! Where is that?"
"It is one of the new health-resorts in Colorado which has lately come
into notice for consumptives. It's very high up; nearly or quite six
thousand feet, and the air is said to be something remarkable."
"Clover will manage beautifully, I think; she is such a sensible little
thing," said Katy.
"She seems to me, and he too, about as fit to go off two thousand miles by
themselves as the Babes in the Wood," remarked Dr. Carr, who, like many
other fathers, found it hard to realize that his children had outgrown
their childhood. "However, there's no help for it. If I don't stay and
grind away at the mill, there is no one to pay for this long journey.
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