"She pitied him so much, the sweet bright girl, she had so pitied him
all along, that I believe she prayed as much for him as for Jock.
"Of course I did not know all this till afterwards, for all was
stillness in that room, except when at times the clergyman came in
and prayed.
"The next thing I am sure of, was John's leaning over me, and his low
steady voice saying, 'The pulse is better, the symptoms are
mitigating.' Sister Dorothea says they had both seen it for some
hours, but he made her a sign not to agitate me till he was secure
that the improvement was real. Indeed there was something in that
equable firm gentleness of John's that sustained me, and prevented my
breaking down. Even then it was another whole day before my darling
smiled at me again, and said, 'Thanks' to John, but oh! with such a
look.
"When Bobus heard his brother was better, he gave a sob, such as I
shall never forget, and rushed away into the pine-wood on the
hillside, all alone. The next time I saw him he was walking in the
garden with Primrose, and with such a quieted, subdued, gentle look
upon his face, it put me in mind of the fields when a great storm has
swept over them, and they are lying still in the sunshine afterwards.
"Since that day, when John said we might send off that thankworthy
telegram, there has been daily progress.
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