"Your father is worse than I expected," were the doctor's words. "He
has ruptured a blood vessel, and that is bad."

"Will he die, do you think?" faltered the boy.

"'While there is life there is hope,'" he responded evasively, after
Richard had repeated his question.

"Then you are afraid it will be fatal?" cried the boy, terror-stricken.
"Oh, Dr. Melvin, can't we do something?"

The doctor shook his head.

"I have done all I can. Such things are beyond our reach, and mere
medicine does no good."

"Have you told my mother and my sisters?"

"I have told your mother. She expected it from the start," replied the
doctor. "You had better go in now. Your father wishes to speak to you,"
he added.

Richard entered the front chamber at once. As he did so, his mother
passed out, her eyes filled with tears.

"Did he tell you?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, without being able to utter another word.

"Oh, Richard, I never, never thought that such a thing would happen!