ten
o'clock
Duty calls . '' And out into the driving storm the minister went , and toiled on his lonely way through the deep snow to reach the bedside of a suffering fellow man , who sought spiritual consolation in the hour of sickness , from one whose temporal wants he had , while in health , shown but little inclination to supply . That consolation offered , he turned his face homeward again , and again breasted the unabated storm . He found his wife in bed -- something unusual for her at ten o'clock -- and , on laying his hand upon her face , discovered that she was in a high fever . In alarm , he went for the doctor , who declined going out , but sent medicine , and promised to come over in the morning . In the morning Mrs. Carroll was much worse , and unable to rise . To dress the children and get breakfast , Mr. Carroll found to be tasks of no very easy performance for him ; and as soon as they were completed , he called in a neighbor to stay with his wife while he went in search of some one to come and take her place in the family until she was able to go about again as usual .