"And are the foolish virgins here?"
"Who, mother?"
"The foolish virgins. You know who I mean."
Gran lay with her eyes shut as she spoke.
There was an agitation among the family. It was the brothers-in-law who pushed the three Miss Ellises forward. They, the poor things, wept audibly.
Gran opened her eyes at the sound, and said, with a ghost of a smile on her yellow, transparent old face:
"I hope virginity is its own reward."
Then she remained unmoved until Mary came with the soup, which she took and slowly sipped, as Mary administered it in a spoon. It seemed to revive her.
"Where's Lennie and his mother?" she asked, in a firmer tone.
These also were sent for. Mrs. Ellis sat by the bed and gently patted Gran's arm; but Lennie, "skeered stiff," shivered at the door. His mother held out her hand to him, and he came in, inch by inch, watching the fragile old Gran, who looked transparent and absolutely unreal, with a fascination of horror.