THE TIRED WATCHER. 135 



heart-stricken father was her sole and constant nurse. If he 

 had possessed the means, no hireling would he have paid to 

 tend his darling child : but he was poor, and thus poverty and 

 will met for once in sweet consent. 



On the morning of the fourth day after her attack, the rest- 

 less uneasiness of the little sufferer subsided into a deep and 

 quiet slumber. The tired watcher, who, while fatigue and 

 despair together weighed down his broken spirit, had found it 

 hard to resist the drowsiness of exhausted nature, was roused 

 to trembling wakefulness by the flutter of hope within his 

 heart. He knelt beside the bed " Oh ! let not this blessed 

 hope prove a mere delusion. Save, merciful God, my only 



treasure ! or if ." The weakness of the flesh forbade 



to express in words the dread alternative, but with head 

 bowed low, the father remained for a few moments in an 

 attitude, at least, of resignation. When he rose from his knees, 

 the rush-light had expired and a ray of bright sunshine, enter- 

 ing at the round hole in the shutter, fell upon the slumberer's 

 features, which were still composed in quiet rest. Poor Gre- 

 gory drew the window-curtain quite close ; then quitted the 

 chamber and descended to the garden. The air refreshed his 

 throbbing temples ; but, chilled by his night vigil, the morning 

 sun, as it glistened on the dew-drops, seemed to impart no 

 warmth to his benumbed frame, and no good augury to his 

 trembling heart. Before the sun goes down (thought he), 

 and fearing he scarce knew what each moment he was absent 

 from his post, he hastened to resume it, but not till he had 

 hastily plucked a little bunch of flowers. But one day previous 

 he would not have dared to gather them, to decorate the sick 

 chamber, then most likely to become, ere night, the chamber of 

 death ; but now there was hope, at least, in that quiet slumber. 

 It had not been broken when the father returned, but in a few 

 moments the sleeper's eyes opened, and, as if the intense affection 

 of her parent's gaze had been felt even through the closed 

 lids, turned directly towards the fond anxious face beside her. 



