She felt that he could appreciate the pathos of the gift, and the love that prompted it. They had grown so much closer together in the last twenty-four hours.
"You've been here nearly all day, haven't you?" he asked, noticing her tired face. "I wish you would go home and rest, and let me take your place awhile."
He insisted so kindly that at last she yielded. Her sympathies had been sorely wrought upon during the day, and she was nearly exhausted.
After she had gone, he sat down with his overcoat on, near the front window. There was only a smoldering remnant of a fire in the grate.
The last rays of the sunset were streaming in between the slats of the shutters. He could hear the boys playing in the snowy streets, and the occasional tinkle of passing sleighbells.
"I wonder where Lee is," he thought. He had not seen the child since morning.
Two working men came in presently. They looked long and silently at the doctor's peaceful face, and tiptoed awkwardly out again.
The minutes dragged slowly by.
The heavy perfume of the flowers made David drowsy, and he leaned his head on his hand.
The door opened cautiously, and Lee looked in. His eyes were swollen with crying. He did not see David sitting back in the shadow. Only one long ray of yellow sunlight shone in now, and it lay athwart the still form in the center of the room.