"I will send for the lawyer," she said to her husband.
"At once, at once!"
"Yes, at once."
A day passed.
"Has the lawyer come?" whispered the dying man to his wife.
"He was in the country when I wrote yesterday," she replied. "He returns to-morrow morning, and will be here then."
"There must be no delay," said he.
His wife nodded, and bade him be easy in his mind.
"Excitement is bad for you," she said. "The lawyer is sure to come."
He knew that it would be dangerous for him to agitate himself, and he fell asleep, holding the hand of his darling child. In the night he awoke, and prayed for a few days of life, and that his senses would not forsake him before the end came. His wife, awake in the adjoining room, prayed also, but it will be charitable to draw a veil over her during those silent hours.