"God bless my Maddy! She will tell him no for Lucy's sake, and God
will bring it right at last," the old man whispered, his voice growing
very faint and tremulous. "She will tell him no," he kept repeating,
until, rousing up to greater consciousness, he spoke of Uncle Joseph,
and asked what Maddy would do with him; would she send him back to the
asylum, or care for him there? "He will be happier here," he said,
"but it is asking too much of a young girl like you. He may live for
years."
"I do not know, grandpa. I hope I may do right. I think I shall keep
Uncle Joseph with me," Maddy replied, a shudder creeping over her as
she thought of living out all her youth and possibly middle age with a
lunatic.
But her grandfather's whispered blessings brought comfort with them,
and a calm quiet fell upon her as she sat there listening to the words
of prayer, and catching now and then her own name and that of Guy's.
"I am drowsy, Maddy. Watch while I sleep. Perhaps I'll never wake
again," grandpa said, and clasping Maddy's hands he fell away to
sleep, while Maddy kept her watch beside him, herself falling into a
troubled sleep, from which she was aroused by a clammy hand pressing
on her forehead, and Uncle Joseph's voice, which said: "Wake, my
child. There's been a guest here while you slumbered," and he pointed
to the rigid features of the newly dead.