The candle was burning low, and he had to lift it to see the patient's face distinctly.

Examination convinced him that the deacon was dead--had been dead some time, for the limbs were rigid.

Silas asked himself if he had been asleep, and looked at the clock: it was already four in the morning.

How was it that William had not come?
In much anxiety he went to seek for help, and soon there were several friends assembled in the house, the minister among them, while Silas went away to his work, wishing he could have met William to know the reason of his non-appearance.

But at six o'clock, as he was thinking of going to seek his friend, William came, and with him the minister.