his uncertainty is
harder to bear than the knowledge of a speedy death," said Mr. Sherwood.

Oh, the agony of that hour, when Dexie waited, with the rest of the family,
the verdict of the assembled doctors. As she knelt by her bed, her face
buried in the pillows, she felt as if the worst could not be much harder to
bear than this dreadful suspense. She dreaded the sound that would summon
her to her father's bedside, yet, when it came, she rose to obey with a
firm step, though the white face, from which her eyes shone almost black in
their intensity, was proof of the anxiety that filled her heart.

"My dear little girl," and her father pressed the hand she laid in his, "it
is not so bad as we feared, after all. Dr. Brown, will you go and tell my
wife? Dexie, do you think you will get tired waiting on me if I have to lie
here a few more months?"

"Oh, papa!" She could not restrain the tears that sprang to her eyes, so
she laid her head on the pillow beside him until she could lift a quiet
face.

"Don't fret, Dexie, dear!" and he fondly stroked the head so near him.

"I am likely to live for months, and you are such a capital little nurse
that it will not be such a hardship to spend the rest of my life on my
back."

Yes, that was the verdict. Mr. Sherwood could never hope to walk again or
be a well man; but he would probably live for some time, his splendid
constitution being in his favor.

This was hard news for the family; but they had feared the worst, and so
felt thankful for the extended time that might intervene before the end
would come.

Mrs. Sherwood engaged the assistance of Mrs. Jarvis, an excellent nurse, to
attend on her husband; and as Dexie shared the nursing and relieved Mrs.
Jarvis, Mrs. Sherwood considered she had done her duty well and faithfully.
She did not feel strong enough to do very much of the laborious part of
nursing, but she was willing to make her appearance in the sick-room when
the patient was at his best. She had been present once when her husband had
been seized with a paroxysm of pain, and was so terrified and overcome that
she felt more than willing to leave her husband to the care of those who
were "so hard-hearted that they could witness such suffering," and still be
able to administer the necessary relief.

As the weeks passed by and Mr. Sherwood grew no worse, it seemed impossible
to think that the "grim messenger" was really lurking in the shadow, for he
bore his illness w