For three or four nights Mrs.Hawkins and Laura had been watching by the bedside; Clay had arrived, preceding Washington by one day, and he was now added to the corps of watchers.

Mr.Hawkins would have none but these three, though neighborly assistance was offered by old friends.

From this time forth three-hour watches were instituted, and day and night the watchers kept their vigils.

By degrees Laura and her mother began to show wear, but neither of them would yield a minute of their tasks to Clay.

He ventured once to let the midnight hour pass without calling Laura, but he ventured no more; there was that about her rebuke when he tried to explain, that taught him that to let her sleep when she might be ministering to her father's needs, was to rob her of moments that were priceless in her eyes; he perceived that she regarded it as a privilege to watch, not a burden.