"You have brought him home to die," she said.

But he reassured her.

"I have seen sick men," he said, "and I don't think Reub will die.
He'll pull through, now he has your care. I'm afraid poor George is
too far gone, but Reub will come out all right. Never fear mother."

"Far be it from me to limit the Holy One of Israel by my want of
faith," said Mrs. Hamlin. "If it be the Lord's will that Reuben live,
he will live, and if it be not His will, yet still will I praise His
name for His great goodness in that I am permitted to take care of
him, and do for him to the last. Who can say but the Most High will
show still greater mercy to his servant, and save my son alive?"

As soon as the sick men were a little revived from the exhaustion of
their journey, tubs of water were provided in the shed, and they
washed themselves all over, Elnathan and Perez assisting in the
repulsive task. Then, their filthy prison garments being thrown away,
they were dressed in old clothing of Elnathan's, and their hair and
matted beards were shorn off with scissors. Perez built a fire in the
huge open fireplace to ward off the slight chill of evening, and the
sick men were comfortably arranged before it upon the great settle.
The elderly woman and the deft handed maiden, moved softly about,
setting the tea table, and ministering to the needs of the invalids,
arranging now a covering, now moving a stool, or maybe merely resting
their cool and tender palms upon the fevered foreheads. Fennell had
fallen peacefully asleep, but Reuben's face wore a smile, and in his
eyes, as they languidly followed his mother's motions, to and fro,