In the meantime David is doing his first duty in nursing him; and David will stay in my house till I see whether it be a case o' murder or not." For three weeks there was but the barest possibility of Robert's recovery.

But his youth and fine constitution, aided by the skill of his physician and the unremitting care of his nurse, were at length, through God's mercy, permitted to gain a slight advantage.

The discipline of that three weeks was a salutary though a terrible one to David.

Sometimes it became almost intolerable; but always, when it reached this point, Dr.Morrison seemed, by some fine spiritual instinct, to discover the danger and hasten to his assistance.

Life has silences more pathetic than death's; and the stillness of that darkened room, with its white prostrate figure, was a stillness in which David heard many voices he never would have heard in the crying out of the noisy world.
What they said to him about his wasted youth and talents, and about his neglected Saviour, only his own heart knew.