Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/107

Rh about a mile back in the hills. This cottage occupied an eminence near the edge of the town and commanded an agreeable view. It was a pretty home, as her Groton home had been, and her blind servant was still with her and gave her devoted care.

The blind girl, Myra Smith, has described in detail Mrs. Patterson’s persevering efforts to recover her health both at Groton and in Rumney, and her account is interesting because of the light it throws on that period of Mrs. Eddy’s life, and especially because of the edification it may be to other invalids. She has related that Mrs. Patterson faithfully observed the laws of hygiene. Every morning, even in the depth of winter when the weather was severely cold in that mountainous climate, Mrs. Patterson was lifted from her bed into a chair, wrapped in blankets. Her chair was then drawn out into the veranda, where she remained as long as she could sit up, drinking in deep breaths of pure air and feasting her eyes upon the beauty of the hills.

Her room meanwhile was thrown wide open to admit a free current of air and streams of sunshine. Her bed was redressed for the day and when the apartment was restored to a proper temperature the invalid returned to it. She was then bathed, rubbed in alcohol, reclothed, and again lifted into her bed. She had a mattress that could be elevated at the head and many of her hours were passed in the half-reclining attitude in which it was possible for her to read, write, or even receive callers when not suffering too great pain. She ate sparingly and according to a strict diet, imposing upon herself a