aw fell, he so feared what she was going to say.

"She wants to see you."

The terrified mouth shut with a click; and he nodded and followed her;
but she remained outside his mother's room while he went in.

Isabel's eyes were closed, and she did not open them or move her head,
but she smiled and edged her hand toward him as he sat on a stool beside
the bed. He took that slender, cold hand, and put it to his cheek.

"Darling, did you--get something to eat?" She could only whisper, slowly
and with difficulty. It was as if Isabel herself were far away, and only
able to signal what she wanted to say.

"Yes, mother."

"All you--needed?"

"Yes, mother."

She did not speak again for a time; then, "Are you sure you
didn't--didn't catch cold coming home?"

"I'm all right, mother."

"That's good. It's sweet--it's sweet--"

"What is, mother darling?"

"To feel--my hand on your cheek. I--I can feel it."

But this frightened him horribly--that she seemed so glad she could feel
it, like a child proud of some miraculous seeming thing accomplished. It
frightened him so that he could not speak, and he feared that she would
know how he trembled; but she was unaware, and again was silent. Finally
she spoke again:

"I wonder if--if Eugene and Lucy know that we've come--home."

"I'm sure they do."

"Has he--asked about me?"

"Yes, he was here."

"Has he--gone?"

"Yes, mother."

She sighed faintly. "I'd like--"

"What, mother?"

"I'd like to have--seen him." It was just audible, this little regretful
murmur. Several minutes passed before there was another. "Just--just
once," she whispered, and then was still.

She seemed to have fallen asleep, and George moved to go, but a faint
pressure upon his fingers detained him, and he remained, with her hand
still pressed against his cheek. After a while he made sure she was
asleep, and moved again, to let the nurse come in, and this time there
was no pressure of the fingers to keep him. She was not asleep, but
thinking that if he went he might get some rest, and be better prepared
for what she knew was coming, she commanded those longing fingers of
hers--and let him go.

He found the doctor standing with the nurse in the hall; and, telling
them that his mother was drowsing now, George went back to his own room,
where he was startled to find his grandfather lying on the bed, and his
uncle leaning against the wall. They had gone home two hours before, and
he did not k