Supposing father had wanted to say something--something private to them.

Not that he had.

Oh, far from it! He lay there, purple, a dark, angry purple in the face, and never even looked at them when they came in.

Then, as they were standing there, wondering what to do, he had suddenly opened one eye.

Oh, what a difference it would have made, what a difference to their memory of him, how much easier to tell people about it, if he had only opened both! But no--one eye only.