The first morning on which he could be taken from his bed and partially dressed, Mrs.Ranger called in both the children to assist her.

The three tried to conceal their feelings as they, not without physical difficulty, lifted that helpless form to the invalid's chair which Ellen wheeled close to the bedside.

She herself wheeled him into the adjoining room, to the window, with strands of ivy waving in and out in the gentle breeze, with the sun bright and the birds singing, and all the world warm and vivid and gay.

Hiram's cheeks were wet with tears; they saw some tremendous emotion surging up in him.

He looked at Arthur, at Adelaide, back to Arthur.