"Yes, Miss, I wisht yer would."
Esther called for water and clean linen. She sponged the children, made the necessary changes, ventilated the room, and closed the door into the living room; and for the first time since their illness began, the children had quiet. The angel of Death hovered near, and the Murphy family were filled with an indefinable fear.
Esther watched over the two children throughout the night. Brigham was delirious. Once he seemed terrified, and called out:
"Mamma, don't hurt my teacher! Wathemah, what did my teacher tell yer about Jesus? Has my teacher come?"
At daybreak, when Esther gave him his medicine, he knew her and smiled. As she bent over him, he said:
"I knowed ye'd come. Is Jesus near?"
"Yes, very near, dear," she answered, softly.
"An' He loves little childern?"
"Yes, dear, loves them dearly."
"I am so glad." He closed his eyes and seemed smiling in his sleep. Rousing again, he said in a weak voice: