“What is it, doctor?” asked Mr. Coke, voicing the question that hung unspoken on the lips of all the others.
The doctor looked at his questioner in silence for a moment, and then said impressively:
“He is dead!”
A convulsive sob from the newly made widow brought Mary Black and some of the neighbors to her side in an instant. While they were leading the weeping woman up to her room, the doctor noted the questioning look in Mr. Coke’s eyes.
“It came very suddenly,” he said; “all was over in an instant. He died without opening his lips.”
Herbert, who was standing in the rear of the room unobserved, heard this with blanched face and parched throat. He realized that the death of his father marked an epoch in his life. He felt that he had lost his dearest friend. Yet the tears would not come to his strained, glassy eyes. He was amazed that his heart beat on as before. All that he was conscious of was a strange, unnatural feeling of numbness.
CHAPTER VII
IN WHICH HERBERT MEETS ADVERSITY AND LEARNS THE MEANING OF HARD WORK
The Harkins home was a very desolate place for many days after the funeral. Mary Black remained with the family for several days, moving about noiselessly and attending to the multitude of details which would otherwise go neglected at such a sad period. After the first sharp grief had worn away, Herbert and his mother sat down and talked over their prospects for the future. Mr. Harkins had been prudent enough to leave a small insurance policy, made out to the order of Mrs. Harkins, and this money proved to be of immediate assistance to the widow.
Mrs. Harkins was a firm believer in the value of education, and felt that it was her duty to give Herbert all the schooling that was possible even if it was necessary to make a personal sacrifice to do so. She insisted upon his going to school for at least a year after the death of his father. He did so and made gratifying progress; but he was now old enough to appreciate the responsibility that rested upon him as an only son, so just before the close of the school term he went to his mother and said:
“See here, mother, I’ve got to help you. There is no possible way out of it. If I can do so and continue going to school, all right; if not, I will never return to the school.”