noon
`` Remember , I warned you , and you would not heed . '' From that hour she kept faithful vigil in No. 13 , passing continually from one bedside to another . Susan 's attack proved comparatively light , and she was soon pronounced convalescent ; but little Johnnie was desperately ill , and for several nights Irene sat at his pillow , fearing that every hour would be his last . While his delirium was at its height , Hester was taken violently , and on the morning when Irene felt that her labour was not in vain , and that the boy would get well , his little sister , whom she had nursed quite as assiduously , grew rapidly worse , and died at noon . As is frequently observed in such diseases , this increased in virulence with every new case . It spread with astonishing celerity through the Row , baffling the efforts of the best physicians in W -- ; and finally , the day after Hester 's death , as Irene sat trying to comfort the poor mother , a neighbour came in exclaiming -- `` Oh , Miss Irene ! Philip Martin is down too .