"But I have touched him—drawn in his infected breath—I am a dead man."

The Chaplain heeded him not.

"Brother, canst thou speak?" he said to the sick man.

A moan was the only reply.

"Brother, dost thou know that thou art dying?"

A moan again.

"And that the best of us have not lived as we should?"

Another sigh, so dolorous.

"And dost thou believe that God's dear Son died for thee?"

A faint gesture of assent.