But, when the whispering
sounds, which terrified her she knew not how or why, first
faltered, then ceased altogether; when she heard the sobs that
followed them; and when her heart told her who was weeping in the
next room--then, she began to be influenced by a new feeling
which was stronger than the strongest fear, and she opened the
door without hesitation, almost without trembling.
The coverlet was drawn up over the old man; Gabriel was kneeling
by the bedside, with his face hidden. When she spoke to him, he
neither answered nor looked at her. After a while the sobs that
shook him ceased; but still he never moved, except once when she
touched him, and then he shuddered--shuddered under _her_ hand!
She called in his little sisters, and they spoke to him, and
still he uttered no word in reply. They wept. One by one, often
and often, they entreated him with loving words; but the stupor
of grief which held him speechless and motionless was beyond the
power of human tears, stronger even than the strength of human
love.
It was near daybreak, and the storm was lulling, but still no
change occurred at the bedside. Once or twice, as Perrine knelt
near Gabriel, still vainly endeavoring to arouse him to a sense
of her presence, she thought she heard the old man breathing
feebly, and stretched out her hand toward the coverlet; but she
could not summon courage to touch him or to look at him.
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