The very air seemed dead: was it because none of the sleepers breathed it?
Profoundest sleep filled the wide place.

It was as if not one had waked since last I was there, for the forms I had then noted lay there still.

My father was just as I had left him, save that he seemed yet nearer to a perfect peace.

The woman beside him looked younger.
The darkness, the cold, the silence, the still air, the faces of the lovely dead, made the hearts of the children beat softly, but their little tongues would talk--with low, hushed voices.
"What a curious place to sleep in!" said one, "I would rather be in my nest!" "It is SO cold!" said another.
"Yes, it is cold," answered our host; "but you will not be cold in your sleep." "Where are our nests ?" asked more than one, looking round and seeing no couch unoccupied.
"Find places, and sleep where you choose," replied Adam.
Instantly they scattered, advancing fearlessly beyond the light, but we still heard their gentle voices, and it was plain they saw where I could not.
"Oh," cried one, "here is such a beautiful lady!--may I sleep beside her?
I will creep in quietly, and not wake her." "Yes, you may," answered the voice of Eve behind us; and we came to the couch while the little fellow was yet creeping slowly and softly under the sheet.

He laid his head beside the lady's, looked up at us, and was still.