'No, I made her go to bed. She is quite well; but she wanted sleep sorely.' 'Thank you,' again said the boy; then with a moment's pause, 'Dr. May, tell me now.' Mary would have fled as breaking treacherously in upon such tidings; but a constraining gesture of her father obliged her to remain, and keep the cordial ready for immediate administration. 'My dear, I believe you know,' said Dr. May, bending over him--and Mary well knew what the face must be saying. 'Both?' the faint tones asked. 'Recollect the sorrow that they have been spared,' said Dr. May in his lowest, tenderest tones, putting his hand out behind him, and signing to Mary for the cordial. 'She could not have borne it;' and the feebleness of those words made Mary eager to put the spoon once more into her father's hands. 'That is right, my boy. Think of their being together;' and Mary heard tears in her father's voice. 'Thank you,' again showed that the cordial was swallowed; then a pause, and in a quiet, sad, low tone, 'Poor Ave!' 'Your mending is the best thing for her.' Then came a long sigh; and then, after a pause, the Doctor knelt down, and said the Lord's Prayer--the orphan's prayer, as so many have felt it in the hour of bereavement. All was quite still, and both he and Mary knelt on for some short space; then he arose in guarded stillness, hastily wiped away the tears that were streaming over his face, and holding back the curtain, showed Mary the boy, again sunk into that sweet refreshing sleep. 'That is well over,' he said, with a deep sigh of relief, when they had moved to a safe distance. 'Poor fellow! he had better become used to the idea while he is too weak to think.' 'He is better?' asked Mary, repressing her agitation with difficulty. 'I believe the danger is over; and you may tell his sister so when she wakes.' CHAPTER III And a heart at leisure from itself To soothe and sympathize.--Miss Waring Recovery had fairly set in, and 'better' was the universal bulletin, eating and drinking the prevailing remedy. Henry Ward had quickly thrown off his illness. The sense that all depended on him, acted as a stimulus to his energies; he was anxious to be up and doing, and in a few days was down-stairs, looking over his father's papers, and making arrangements. He was eager and confident, declaring that his sisters should never want a home while he lived; and, when he first entered his brother's room, his effusion of affection overwhelmed Leonard in his exceeding weakness, and the thought of which during the rest of the day often brought tears to his eyes.