She took his limp hand and bowed her forehead on it, as before
feeling by some fine instinct that her unspoken sympathy was best.
It was. The brave man, in this last emergency, did as he would have
done in the field at the head of his company if subjected to a
sudden attack. He promptly rearranged and marshalled all his
faculties to face the enemy. There was not a moment of despairing,
vain retreat. In the strong pressure upon his mind of those
questions which must now be settled once for all, he forgot the girl
by his side. He was still so long that she timidly raised her head
and was awed by his stern, fixed expression of deep abstraction. She
did not disturb him except as the stifled sobs of her deep, yet now
passing agitation convulsed her bosom, and she began to give her
attention to Uncle Lusthah, hitherto unheeded. The old man was on
his knees in a dusky corner, praying in low tones. "Oh, I'm so glad
he's here," she thought. "I'm glad he's praying God to help us
both." In the uncalculating sympathy and strength of her nature she
had unconsciously entered into the dying man's experience and was
suffering with him.
Pages:
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464