“‘You just keep still, old man,’ I told him.  ’Now is just the time to look out for sudden heart failure, so you must keep still, and have a good swig of this stuff, and try and have a nap.  You’ve given us a proper scare, I can tell you, but now you’re right side up.’

“And would you believe it, Miss Jelliffe, that big Frenchman jumped off his bunk and stared at him, and then he grabbed me and kissed me on both cheeks as if I’d been another blessed frog-eater, and I wanted to punch his nose but compromised by shaking hands instead.  I could just have danced a hornpipe.  And by this time Dr. Grant has taken a whole lot of nourishment, and got a good deal of real sleep during the night, and now he’s behaving first-rate.  I left Frenchy sitting near him, a short time ago, and came out to smoke the pipe of peace with all the world.”

“You have saved him!” I cried.

“Well, we’ve all helped,” he said.  “It really looks now as if he were quite out of danger, because there is an immense change for the better, and that’s a whole lot.  I’ll just take a peep in now to see if he’s awake, because we mustn’t disturb him if he isn’t.”

He left me standing in front of the poor little building, within whose walls we all had spent such terrible hours, and went in on tiptoe.  Frenchy came out in his stocking-feet, the most disheveled man you ever saw, and suddenly I felt as if I were about to fall, in spite of the joy his eyes betrayed, and I grasped his big, hairy arm.  But I felt better in a moment.  The immense newborn sun was rising out of the waters, a huge, great, blood-hued thing, and the sky was aflame at last—­after the awful, somber days, and seemed to burst out with tidings of great joy, like that wondrous star in the East.

And then the little parson came trotting down the road, for he is the most active little man you ever saw, and when he looked into our faces he stretched out his hands, and we grasped them happily.

“Oh!  Mr. Barnett,” I told him.  “Indeed, it seems too good to be true.”

“Dear young lady,” he said, “nothing is ever too good to be true.”

He was looking far away at the flaming sky, as if beyond it he had been able to discern some wonderful vision.  He surely believes in infinite goodness, Aunt Jennie.  His whole life is based upon his trust in it, and it is very beautiful.  His words carried with them a world of hope, and suddenly I felt as if some great blessing were perhaps hovering above, like the big, circling sea-birds, and might descend to me.

Then Dr. Johnson came out and greeted the little parson, who has taken a great liking to him.  Despite the great, dark circles around his eyes, strained as they had been by so many weary hours of watching, the young man’s face was merry and boyish, for all that it gives promise of splendid manliness, and it was good to see.  As he came to us his steps showed no signs of the fatigue he must have felt.