The eager curiosity with which the mother eyed the doctor's looks as often as he visited the boy; the terror and trepidation of the father, while he desired to know his opinion; in a word, the whole tenor of their distress baffled all description.
"At length the physician, for the sake of his own character, was obliged to be explicit; and, returning with the captain to the common walk, told him, in my hearing, that the child could not possibly recover.

This sentence seemed to have petrified the unfortunate parent, who stood motionless, and seemingly bereft of sense.

I led him to my apartment, where he sat a full hour in that state of stupefaction; then he began to groan hideously, a shower of tears burst from his eyes, he threw himself on the floor, and uttered the most piteous lamentation that ever was heard.

Meanwhile, Mrs.Norton being made acquainted with the doctor's prognostic, visited Mrs.Clewline, and invited her to the lodge.

Her prophetic fears immediately took the alarm.