With a great effort Elsie controlled her emotion, and answered low and tremulously, "She is almost done with pain. She is very happy—no doubt, no fear, only gladness that soon she will be
'Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on his gentle breast'"
Eddie turned away with a broken sob. Vi uttered a low cry of anguish; and Rosie and the boys broke into a wail of sorrow.
Till that moment they had not given up hope that the dear one might even yet be restored.
In the sick-room the golden head lay on a snow white pillow, the blue eyes were closed, and the breath came pantingly from the pale, parted lips.
"Cousin Arthur" had his finger on the slender wrist, counting its pulsations, while father and grandfather stood looking on in anxious solicitude, and the mother bent over her fading flower, asking in tender whispered accents, "are you in pain, my darling?"
"No, mamma, only so tired; so tired!"
Only the mother's quick ear, placed close to the pale lips, could catch the low-breathed words.
The doctor administered a cordial, then a little nourishment was given, and the child fell asleep.
The mother sat watching her, lost to all else in the world. Arthur came to her side with a whispered word about her own need of rest and refreshment after her fatiguing journey.