ent of it. The silent smile or the gentle, simple
ejaculations with which her mother habitually replied meant more to her
than they did to others. She did not comprehend how little they really
proved a full consciousness on her mother's part; and she was unutterably
shocked, when, on going to her bedside one morning, she found her unable
to move, and evidently without clear recognition of any one's face. The
end had begun; the paralysis which had so slowly been putting the mind to
rest had prostrated the body also. It was now only a question of length of
siege, of how much vital force the system had hoarded up. Lying helpless
in bed, the poor old woman was as placid and gentle as before. She never
murmured nor even stirred impatiently. She seemed unconscious of any
weariness. The only emotion she showed was when Mercy left the room; then
she would cry silently till Mercy returned. Her eyes followed Mercy
constantly, as a little babe's follow its mother; and she would not take a
mouthful of food from any other hand.

It was the very hardest form of illness for Mercy to bear. A violent and
distressing disease, taxing her strength, her ingenuity to their utmost
every moment, would have been comparatively nothing to her. To sit day
after day, night after night, gazing into the senseless yet appealing eyes
of this motionless being, who had literally no needs except a helpless
animal's needs of food and drink; who clung to her with the irrational
clinging of an infant, yet would never know even her name again,--it was
worse than the chaining of life to death. As the days wore on, a species
of terror took possession of Mercy. It seemed to her that this silent
watchful, motionless creature never had been her mother,--never had been a
human being like other human beings. As the old face grew more and more
haggard, and the old hands more and more skinny and claw-like, and the
traces of intellect and thought more and more faded away from the
features, the horror deepened, until Mercy feared that her own brain must
be giving way. She revolted from the very thought of herself for having
such a feeling towards her mother. Every instinct of loyalty in her deeply
loyal nature rose up indignantly against her. She would reiterate to
herself the word, "Mother! mother! mother!" as she sat gazing with a
species of horror-stricken fascination into the meaningless face. But she
could not shake off the feeling. Her nerves were fast giving way un