"Now, my dears," he said, as he rose from his knees, "we had better get off to bed." And he smiled with great sweetness, and Ruth recalled afterwards how he kissed her several times.
But if he had any premonition of what was coming, he did not betray it by a single word.
CHAPTER X
RALPH SPEAKS HIS MIND
It was toward the dawn when Ralph was roused out of a deep sleep by a violent knocking at his bedroom door.
"Yes," he called, springing up in bed and staring into the semi-darkness.
"Come quickly; your father is very ill!" It was his mother who spoke, and her voice was vibrant and anxious.
He sprang out of bed at once, and hurriedly got into his clothes. In a few moments he was by his father's bedside.
At first he thought that his mother had alarmed herself and him unnecessarily. David lay on his side as if asleep.