I thought they had come for a social call. Then one of them, who was a neighbor, gave me a letter that he had just received. I read through the first page of the letter, which told about the progress of the fever. Then these words leapt out at me:

"Jim and Lizzie Wells have both died of the fever. They died within twenty-four hours of each other. The children are all at home and the Howard Association has put a woman there to take care of them. Send word to Ida."

That was all that I read. The next thing I knew, Grandma Peggy and my aunt and uncle were in the house. It had now become a house of mourning.