A great weariness fell upon him,
and his powers began to give way, at first slowly, but then with
accelerated failure. He saw the end coming, long before his sons
suspected it; his doubt, for their sakes, was the only thing which
made it unwelcome. It was "upon his mind" (as his Quaker neighbors
would say) to speak to them of the future, and at last the proper
moment came.
It was a stormy November evening. Wind and rain whirled and drove
among the trees outside, but the sitting-room of the old farm-house
was bright and warm. David and Jonathan, at the table, with their
arms over each other's backs and their brown locks mixed together,
read from the same book: their father sat in the ancient rocking-
chair before the fire, with his feet upon a stool. The housekeeper
and hired man had gone to bed, and all was still in the house.
John waited until he heard the volume closed, and then spoke.
"Boys," he said, "let me have a bit of talk with you. I don't seem
to get over my ailments rightly,--never will, maybe. A man must
think of things while there's time, and say them when they HAVE
to be said.
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