I don't often preach to you, my child--do I?
but somehow it comes to me to-night." "I will remember, father," said Mary; and she did remember.
She went with him to his bedroom, and saw that everything was right for him.

When she went again, before going to her own, he felt more comfortable, he said, and expected to have a good night.

Relieved, she left him; but her heart would be heavy.

A shapeless sadness seemed pressing it down; it was being got ready for what it had to bear.
When she went to his room in the middle of the night, she found him slumbering peacefully, and went back to her own and slept better.

When she went again in the morning, he lay white, motionless, and without a breath.
It was not in Mary's nature to give sudden vent to her feelings.