d joined them, and new spirits had
come to burn the light in the old red house.

Agatha, half-dressed, had slept, and woke feeling that the night must
be far advanced. The house was very still, with no sound or echo of
the incoherent tones which, for now many days, had come from the room
down the hall. She lit a candle, and the sputtering match seemed to
fill the house with noise. Her clock indicated a little past midnight.
It was only twenty minutes since she had lain down, but she was wide
awake and refreshed. While she was pinning up her hair in a big mass
on the top of her head, she heard in the hall slow, steady steps, firm
but not heavy, even as in daytime. Susan Stoddard did not tiptoe.

Agatha was at the door before she could knock.

"You had better come for a few minutes," Mrs. Stoddard said. The tones
were, in themselves, an adjuration to faith and fortitude.

"Yes, I will come," said Agatha. They walked together down the dimly
lighted hall, each woman, in her own way, proving how strong and
efficient is the discipline of self-control.

In the sick-room a screen shaded the light from the bed, which had been
pulled out almost into the middle of the room. Near the bed was a
table with bottles, glasses, a covered pitcher, and on the floor an
oxygen tank. Doctor Thayer's massive figure was in the shadow close to
the bed, and Aleck Van Camp leaned over the curved footboard. James
lay on his pillow, a ghost of a man, still as death itself. As Agatha
grew accustomed to the light, she saw that his eyes were closed, the
lips under the ragged beard were drawn and slightly parted; his
forehead was the pallid forehead of death-in-life. Neither the doctor
nor Aleck moved or turned their gaze from the bed as Agatha and Mrs.
Stoddard entered. The air was still, and the profound silence without
was as a mighty reservoir for the silence within.

Agatha stood by the footboard beside Aleck, while Mrs. Stoddard,
getting a warm freestone from the invisible Mr. Hand in the hall,
placed it beneath the bedclothes. Aleck Van Camp dropped his head,
covering his face with his hands. Agatha, watching, by and by saw a
change come over the sick man's face. She held her breath, it seemed,
for untold minutes, while Doctor Thayer reached his hand to the
patient's heart and leaned over to observe more closely his face.

"See!" she whispered to Aleck, touching his shoulder lightly, "he is
looking at us." When Aleck looke