Ned ate and drank in silence.

He was resolved not to ask a question, and, when the soldiers departed, not a single word had been spoken.
The next day Ned had fever, the day after that he was worse, and on the third day he became unconscious.

Then he passed through a time, the length of which he could not guess, but it was a most singular period.
It was crowded with all sorts of strange and shifting scenes, some colored brilliantly, and vivid, others vague and fleeting as moonlight through a cloud.

It was wonderful, too, that he should live again through things that he had lived already.

He was back with Mr.Austin.
He saw the kind and generous face quite plainly and recognized his voice.