“That night I went to him again. He greeted me quietly as I came in.
“‘Doctor Leyden,’ said he, ‘it is a terrible thing to be blind, is it not?’
“I did not answer.
“‘But it is not a terrible thing to die. We none of us fear to face death; most of us enjoy a bit of a tussle with the grim old man.’
“I had expected this and waited for him to go on.
“‘To myself,’ said Dalton, ‘I consider that I am dead, practically dead.’ He was silent for a few minutes and then said, ‘Do you not consider, Doctor Leyden, that we have all of us a certain claim upon each other as fellow-men?’
“‘Undoubtedly,’ I answered.
“‘I am glad that you feel as I do,’ said he composedly, ‘because my claim upon you, Doctor Leyden, is that you go to my father and tell him of my death and its cause and make him support my family as they should be supported. He must make my oldest boy his heir. Will you do this for me? There is no desperate hurry; within a year will be time enough.’
“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘I will do it.’
“He was silent for many minutes and then he turned to me, and again his flashing smile illumined the triangular open space.