Frank was affected by the emotion which was again overcoming the fond mother, but he said as calmly as he could, "Don't you think we had better go home now, Mrs. Daly?"
"No, I can't go home and him up there," she replied.
"But you can't stay here all night," objected Frank. "Come home with me now. That's what Bill would want if he had the say."
"Is that what you call him—Bill?"
"O, for short you know, Mrs. Daly. Boys always take short cuts."
"I never called him anything but Willie," she sighed and started to cry again.
"Won't you come home now?" Frank asked tenderly.
"I've got no heart to go anywhere while he is up there," she again declared.
Frank now realized that things were getting serious. His own mother would be anxious about him, and the hospital bench was not a place for Mrs. Daly to spend the night. He tried all his persuasive powers, to no effect.
While he was in this state of anxiety, he heard a voice at the desk ask, "Is William Daly doing nicely? Has he regained consciousness yet?" Looking up, Frank, to his great joy, saw Father Boone. At the same instant, hearing a sob and looking in its direction, the priest perceived Mrs. Daly and Frank. He stepped over to where they were.