‘Ruth, my darling,’ he whispered, ‘keep your face there a little while.’
She kissed him gently, her hot tears wetting the pillow.
‘Don’t cry, Ruth,’ he said. ‘It is better so. I shall escape them all now. Pray for me, Ruth. Had I lived I might have tried to be better, but God knows best.’
He lay for a moment and said nothing.
His breath was coming faster and faster, and the gray shadows were settling down upon his face.
Presently he closed his eyes again and sighed deeply.
For a moment all was still.
Then he opened his eyes and fixed them lovingly on Ruth’s face,
‘Smile, my darling,’ he said. ‘Let your smile be the last thing I see on earth. Forgive me for all the wrong I have done, and pray for me sometimes. The only happiness I ever knew in this world was your love. God bless you, my own Ruth!’
She smiled at him as he bade—smiled through the tears that she could not check.