It is November, and the girls are depressed. The weather is getting bad; they have nothing to do. Their mother comes home and they see Laurie coming through the garden. Their mother asks if there has been any letter from father, but there hasn't. She is worried, because his letters always arrive on the same day. Laurie asks if anyone wants to go for a drive; he is tired of studying. Just then a telegram comes, saying that their father is very sick. "How still the room was as they listened breathlessly, how strangely the day darkened outside, and how suddenly the whole world seemed to change, as the girls gathered about their mother, feeling as if all the happiness and support of the lives was about to be taken from them." Chapter 15, pg. 186 Their mother decides to go the hospital in Washington where their father is. Laurie sends a return telegram informing the hospital that Mrs. March is on her way.
A note is brought to Aunt March, since money for the trip must be borrowed. Their mother begins to pack. Mr. Laurence sends things to help their father. He also sends Mr. Brooke as an escort, as he cannot go himself. In the flurry of all the preparations, no one noticed that Jo has gone. She comes home later and gives her mother twenty-five dollars to help pay for the trip. Her mother asks how she got the money and Jo takes off her hat. She has cut off her hair and sold it. She pretends that it is nothing important, but that night Meg hears Jo crying. She asks if she is crying about their father, but Jo says she is crying about her hair.
