s
had been used to sit, and where they had often learnt or read to each
other their favourite hymns. Fragments of these hymns he was now
repeating, dwelling on the words with an evident sense of pleasure and
belief--

"`A noble army--men and boys,
The matron and the maid,
Around the Saviour's throne rejoice,
In robes of light arrayed.
_They_ climbed the steep ascent of heaven,
'Mid peril, toil, and pain;
O God, to _us_ may strength be given,
To follow in their train.'

"Isn't that beautiful, Power?

"`And when on upward wing.
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upwards I fly;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.'"

And as he murmured to himself in a soothed tone of voice these verses,
and lines of "Jerusalem the Golden," and "O for a closer walk with God,"
and "Rock of Ages," the wearied brain at last found repose, and Daubeny
fell asleep.

He lingered on till the end of the week. On the Saturday he ceased to
be delirious, and the lucid interval began which precedes death. It was
then that he earnestly entreated to be allowed to see those school
friends whose names had been so often on his lips--Power, Walter, and
Henderson. The boys, who had daily and eagerly inquired for him,
entered with a feeling of trembling solemnity the room of sickness. The
near presence of death filled them with an indescribable awe, and they
felt desolate at the approaching loss of a friend whom they loved so
well.

"I sent to say good-bye," he said, smiling sweetly. "You must not cry
and grieve for me. I am happier than I ever felt before. Good-bye,
Walter. It's for a long, long, long time, but not for ever. Good-bye,
my dear old Flip--naughty fellow to cry so, when I am happy; and when I
am gone, Flip, think of me sometimes, and of talks we've had together,
and take your side manfully for God and Christ. Good-bye, Power, my
best friend; we meant to be confirmed together, you know, but God has
ordered it otherwise." And then he whispered low--

"`Lord shall we come? come yet again?
Thy children ask one blessing more;
To come not now alone, but then
When life, and death, and time are o'er;
Then, then, to come, O Lord, and be
_Confirmed in heaven--confirmed by Thee_.'

"O Power, that line fills me with hope and joy; think of it for me when
I am dead," and his voice trembled with emotion as he again murmured,
"`Confirmed in heave