whichever way the pointed she felt only a dull despair she believed no more than dr in the chance of recovery � that conviction seemed to her a of s imagination of his boyish ambition to achieve the impossible � and every hopeful symptom pointed in her mind only to a longer period of useless suffering her hours at s side deepened her revolt against the energy spent in the fight w h death since had learned that her husband was returning she had never by sign or word to the fact for a gleam of tenderness now and then when � the fruit of the tree was brought to her she seemed to have sunk back into herself as though her poor little of consciousness were wholly in the contemplation of its pain it was not that her mind was clouded � only that it was absorbed in that dread mystery of anguish which a capricious fate had laid on it and what if she recovered as they called it if the flood tide of pain should ebb leaving her a helpless wreck on the desert shores of what would life be to without movement thought would never set her blood flowing � in her could only take the form of the physical processes her love for was � ven if it into life again it could but put the to and and would her one sentiment � her for � suffice to reconcile her to the desolate half life which was the utmost that science could hold out here again s experience answered no she did not believe in s powers of moral � her body seemed less near death than her spirit life had been poured out to her in generous measure and she had the precious draught � the few drops remaining in the cup could no longer renew her strength pity not condemnation � profound from this conclusion of s to a compassionate heart there could be no instance of the of the tree the of life than this struggle of the small half formed soul with a destiny too heavy for its strength if had had any moral hope to fight for every pang of suffering would have been worth enduring but it was intolerable to witness the of her useless pain incessant commerce with such thou ts made as the days passed any escape from solitude any contact with other ideas even the re of bringing a breath of place conventional grief into the haunted of the house was a from her if it was hard to talk to him to answer his to assent to his it was harder a thousand times to go on talking to herself mr s coming was a distinct his was like to her wound mr undoubtedly grieved for but his grief struck inward only now and then the of his hard manner in a touch of extra solemnity the more of a period yet on the whole it was to his feeling that her own to be most akin if his acceptance of the inevitable proceeded from the resolve to spare himself pain that at least was a form of strength an indication of character she had never cared for the of sentiment the fruit of the tree now on tlie evening of the day after her talk with � it was more than ever a solace to escape from the torment of her thoughts into the air of mr ar s presence the day had been a bad one for the patient and s distress had been increased by the receipt of a cable from mr announcing that owing to delay in reaching he had missed the fast steamer from and would not arrive till four or five later than he had expected mr in response to her report had announced his intention of coming down by a late train and now he and and dr after dining together were seated before the fire in the room i take it then mr ar said turning to that the chances of her living io sec her father are very slight the young u raised his head eagerly not in my opinion sir unless arise i can almost to keep her alive for another month � i m not afraid to call it six weeks h m � doesn t so no dr from precedent and you mr s thin li s were by the ghost of a smile oh i don t argue � i just feel my way said is the fruit of the tree and yet you don t hesitate to no i don t sir because the case as i see it� presents certain definite indications he began to them cleverly avoiding the use of and trying to make his point clear by the use of simple illustration and it to listen to his passionate � she had heard it so often she believed in it so little mr turned a glance on him as he ended then today even you believe not only in the possibility of life but of ultimate recovery hesitated i won t call it recovery � today say � life prolonged and the it might disappear � after a few months � or a few years such an would be unusual exceptional but there are exceptions and i m straining ever nerve to make this one and the � such as today s for instance is unhappily and bound to increase � as the lose their effect there was a tap on the door and one of the nurses entered to report to he went out with and was left with mr � � � � � the fruit of the tree he turned to her thoughtfully that young fellow seems sure of himself you believe in him hesitated not in his expectation of recovery � no one does but you think they can keep the poor child 