living in the same house with him for so many years, that she knew very little about him.  She had seen much of him, had talked much with him, but she had never mentioned to him the name of Christ, the name after which she called herself.  The sun sank lower, it was almost gone; this weary day was nearly done; and very sad and heavy-hearted felt this young watcher—­the day begun in brightness was closing in gloom.  It was not all so clear a path as she had thought; there were some things that she could not undo.  Those days of opportunity, in which she might at least have invited this man to Jesus, were gone; it seemed altogether probable that there would never come another.  There was a little rustle of the drapery about the bed, and she turned suddenly, to meet the great searching eyes of the sick man, bent full upon her.  Then he spoke in low, but wonderfully distinct and solemn tones.  And the words he slowly uttered were yet more startling: 

“Am I going to die?”

Oh, what was Ester to say?  How those great bright eyes searched her soul!  Looking into them, feeling the awful solemnity of the question, she could not answer “No;” and it seemed almost equally impossible to tell him “Yes.”  So the silence was unbroken, while she trembled in every nerve, and felt her face blanch before the continued gaze of those mournful eyes.  At length the silence seemed to answer him; for he turned his head suddenly from her, and half buried it in the pillow, and neither spoke nor moved.

That awful silence!  That moment of opportunity, perhaps the last of earth for him, perhaps it was given to her to speak to him the last words that he would ever hear from mortal lips.  What could she say?  If she only knew how—­only had words.  Yet something must be said.

Then there came to Ester one of those marked Bible verses which had of late grown so precious, and her voice, low and clear, filled the blank in the room.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

No sound from the quiet figure on the bed.  She could not even tell if he had heard, yet perhaps he might, and so she gathered them, a little string of wondrous pearls, and let them fall with soft and gentle cadence from her lips.

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.”

“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him—­the Lord is gracious, and full of compassion.”

“Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

“Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”

“Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live.”