“Look here, we will hang his plaid over the side of the cot, and when we light the candle in the night to see if he is covered properly, we can just know that he is there, behind it. He lies so quietly that we never can hear him breathe.
“Sit down now and I will read a chapter of the Bible to you. It is past our usual time.”
The man stretched forth his hand and took a Bible down from a small book-shelf which hung on the wall close to the head of the bed. Then he began to speak, turning over the leaves at the same time.
“Let me see, what shall we read to-night? I forgot to-day to pick one out that Wallie will not ask awkward questions about.
“Ah! here is the one about King David’s child dying; you remember he lost a child, a boy too, his son and Bathsheba’s... I will read this. Come close; I believe Wallie is asleep, so I must speak low... How the wind is wailing;... but you know, wind always makes him sleep more soundly.”
The woman bent forward and hid her face in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. The man began to read:
“And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?
“But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is dead.
“Then David arose from the earth and washed, and anointed himself; and changed his apparel, and came into the House of the Lord, and worshipped; then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
“Then said his servants unto him: What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but when the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread.