“He will sleep now for a while, and when he wakens he will be more himself. You are not afraid to be left with him? He may know you when he wakens again.”
“I am not afraid,” said Allison, speaking faintly, and then she added with a firmer voice, “No, I am not afraid.”
“You have but to open the door and call, and his man Dickson will be with you in a minute. Do not speak to him unless he speaks to you. Even if he should speak, it may be better to call Dickson, and come away.”
Doctor Fleming spoke gravely and briefly, letting no look or tone of sympathy escape from him. “I’ll see you again before I leave the place,” said he.
So she sat down a little withdrawn from the bed and waited, wondering how this strange and doubtful experiment was to end. He neither spoke nor moved, but seemed to slumber quietly enough till Doctor Fleming returned. He did not come in, but beckoned Allison to the door.
“That is long enough for to-day. Are you going to your poor folk again? If it should suit you better to go home, you can do so. Old Flora has returned, and I will speak to her.”
“I will go out for a little, but I will come back. They will expect me. Yes, I would like better to come back again.”
And so she went out for a while, and when she returned she brought an odd volume of the History of Scotland to restless Charlie, and a late rose or two tied up with a bit of sweet-briar and thyme, to poor Annie Brand.
The next day passed like the first. Allison went when she was called, and sat beside the sick man’s bed for an hour or two. He followed her with his eyes and seemed to know her, but he did not utter a word. He was restless and uneasy, and muttered and sighed, but he had no power to move himself upon the bed, and he did not fall asleep, as Allison hoped he might do after a while. For the look in his troubled eyes hurt her sorely. There was recognition in them, she thought, and doubt, and a gleam of anger.
“If I could do something for him,” thought she. “But to sit here useless! And I must not even speak to him until he speaks to me.”