I am a great deal better, thank you! Tell Papa so!' By little and little, he got tired of the bustle of the day, the noise of carriages and carts, and people passing and repassing; and would fall asleep, or be troubled with a restless and uneasy sense again--the child could hardly tell whether this were in his sleeping or his waking moments--of that rushing river.

'Why, will it never stop, Floy ?' he would sometimes ask her.

'It is bearing me away, I think!' But Floy could always soothe and reassure him; and it was his daily delight to make her lay her head down on his pillow, and take some rest.
'You are always watching me, Floy, let me watch you, now!' They would prop him up with cushions in a corner of his bed, and there he would recline the while she lay beside him: bending forward oftentimes to kiss her, and whispering to those who were near that she was tired, and how she had sat up so many nights beside him.
Thus, the flush of the day, in its heat and light, would gradually decline; and again the golden water would be dancing on the wall.
He was visited by as many as three grave doctors--they used to assemble downstairs, and come up together--and the room was so quiet, and Paul was so observant of them (though he never asked of anybody what they said), that he even knew the difference in the sound of their watches.
But his interest centred in Sir Parker Peps, who always took his seat on the side of the bed.

For Paul had heard them say long ago, that that gentleman had been with his Mama when she clasped Florence in her arms, and died.

And he could not forget it, now.