A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 2OQ 



If we went to him and exhibited our interest in 

 his condition, he always purred in recognition of 

 our sympathy. And when I spoke his name, he 

 looked up with an expression that said, &quot;I un 

 derstand it, old fellow, but it s no use.&quot; He was 

 to all who came to visit him a model of calmness 

 and patience in affliction. 



I was absent from home at the last, but heard 

 by daily postal-card of his failing condition ; and 

 never again saw him alive. One sunny morning, 

 he rose from his rug, went into the conservatory 

 (he was very thin then), walked around it delib 

 erately, looking at all the plants he knew, and 

 then went to the bay-window in the dining-room, 

 and stood a long time looking out upon the little 

 field, now brown and sere, and toward the gar 

 den, where perhaps the happiest hours of his life 

 had been spent It was a last look. He turned 

 and walked away, laid himself down upon the 

 bright spot in the rug, and quietly died. 



