One dull afternoon，Hannah came in with a telegram.
"It's one of the worst telegram things，Mom，"she said.
Mrs. March read two lines of it and dropped back into her chair. Laurie rushed downstairs for water，and Jo read aloud，in a frightened voice…
Mrs. March，
Your husband is very ill. Come at once.
S. HALE
Blank Hospital，Washington.
How suddenly the whole world seemed to change！For several minutes there was nothing but sound of crying in the room. Poor Hannah was the first to recover（恢复） and she said，"Get your things ready right away，Mom. "Mrs. March again read the message over，saying "I shall go at once，but it may be too late. Oh，girls，girls，help me to bear it！"
"Where's Laurie？"she asked presently.
"Here，ma'am. Oh，let me do something！"cried the boy，hurrying from the next room.
"Send a telegram saying I will come at once. The next train goes early in the morning. I'll take that. "
"Leave a note at Aunt March's. Jo，give me that pen and paper. "Jo well knew that money must be borrowed for the long，sad journey，and she felt as if she could do a little for her father.
The short afternoon passed quickly. All other things were done. However，Jo came back with a mixture of fun and fear，satisfaction and regret in it，saying "That's my contribution（贡献） toward making father comfortable and bring him home！"
"My dear，where did you get it？Twenty－five dollars！Jo，I hope you haven't done anything stupid？"
"No，it's mine honestly. I didn't beg，borrow，or steal it. I earned it，and I don't think you'll blame me，for I only sold what was my own. "
As she spoke，Jo took off her bonnet and they were shocked to find all her hair was cut short.
