After her father’s death, Jessie and her mother move to a high Western town where people come to be cured from tuberculosis. Her mother is a practical nurse and people would require her services. She sees the richer of the “tuberculars” who live their lives either bedridden or happy, gathering flowers and spending time by the pool.  She finds this colony tragic but still “grand” as many of its inhabitants come from wealthy backgrounds. Jessie becomes troubled when she meets two sisters named Laura and Ada Butler, who are spoiled and extremely frail. Jessie feels crass next to them, as she is rarely ill while they are constantly in need of rest and care.  The Butler sisters invite Jessie over to play, but only so that they can tease her and call her a cow. Jessie holds her tongue as her mother is the caretaker of the girls’ grandmother. They prod her further one day and ask about her father’s death. Jessie lies and says that he died of leprosy when in reality, the cause was gangrene. Immediately, she regrets the lie. She knows that it may cause her mother to lose her job, but worries that if she admits to lying, the girls will taunt her even more.  When the Butler sisters call Jessie over to continue to taunt her about the leprosy story, Jessie takes a stand and bravely declares that she has lied. She says that her father was shot, that he was tall, and that she was called the “healthiest girl in town.” Afterwards, Jessie confronts the girls with pride in her health.