|
Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
||||
 |
||||
|
Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
||||
|
|
||||
|
74 candle burnt dimly on the table. Miss Temple was not to be seen: I knew afterwards that she had been called to a delirious patient in the feverroom. I advanced; then paused by the crib side: my hand was on the curtain, but I preferred speaking before I withdrew it. I still recoiled at the dread of seeing a corpse. ‘Helen!’ I whispered softly, ‘are you awake?’ She stirred herself, put back the curtain, and I saw her face, pale, wasted, but quite composed: she looked so little changed that my fear was instantly dissipated. ‘Can it be you, Jane?’ she asked, in her own gentle voice. ‘Oh!’ I thought, ‘she is not going to die; they are mistaken: she could not speak and look so calmly if she were.’ I got on to her crib and kissed her: her forehead was cold, and her cheek both cold and thin, and so were her hand and wrist; but she smiled as of old. ‘Why are you come here, Jane? It is past eleven o’clock: I heard it strike some minutes since.’ ‘I came to see you, Helen: I heard you were very ill, and I could not sleep till I had spoken to you.’ ‘You came to bid me good-bye, then: you are just in time probably.’ ‘Are you going somewhere, Helen? Are you going home?’ ‘Yes; to my long home-my last home.’ ‘No, no, Helen!’ I stopped, distressed. While I tried to devour my tears, a fit of coughing seized Helen; it did not, however, wake the nurse; when it was over, she lay some minutes exhausted; then she whispered‘Jane, your little feet are bare; lie down and cover yourself with my quilt.’ I did so: she put her arm over me, and I nestled close to her. After a long silence, she resumed, still whispering‘I am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead, you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying young, I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.’ ‘But where are you going to, Helen? Can you see? Do you know?’ ‘I believe; I have faith: I am going to God.’ ‘Where is God? What is God?’ ‘My Maker and yours, who will never destroy what He created. I rely implicitly on His power, and confide wholly in His goodness: I count the hours till that eventful one arrives which shall restore me to Him, reveal Him to me.’ ‘You are sure, then, Helen, that there is such a place as heaven, and that our souls can get to it when we die?’ ‘I am sure there is a future state; I believe God is good; I can resign my immortal part to Him without any misgiving. God is my father; God is my friend: I love Him; I believe He loves me.’ ‘And shall I see you again, Helen, |
