"I'm not sick," he said, after a while. "That is, no doctor on earth could help me. It's just the letting go, sweet daughter. I'm old, you must remember, and I can't endure things nor fight as I once could. It has come in the last few days--I have seemed to crumble--to wither, and it has weighed me down horribly. I should have risen above it. I do not care about myself; my life is lived, but you, dear child--it is the thought of your future which fills me with alarm and well-nigh breaks my heart. I have no inheritance for you--I have nothing to leave you but poverty and danger. Don't you understand?"
His voice was gravely tender as he spoke to her thus, and it made her heart ache, and the burning tears come to her lids.
"Oh, daddy!" she cried; "you must be mistaken! You will--you _must_ stay with me many years yet, for I could not get along without you. Tell me you will try--you know the mind has so much to do with the body. Brace up, daddy, for your Julia! You say you have no sickness; then try and let your spirit be bright--for me! Won't you?"
She arose, glided into his lap, curled one arm around his neck and kissed him on the forehead.
"For such a daughter one should try very hard for life," he replied, and the twinkle she had not seen for several days shone in his eyes. "I'm stricken, lassie, but I'll promise you this: I'll make the best fight of my life now, in its last days, and that shall be to stay with my precious little girl as long as I can. Does that satisfy you, young miss?"
The Major's last words were almost gay, and Julia's heart bounded with joy as she heard him speak in his old, brave way. It must be her constant duty to buoy him up and cheer him on. She smiled into his eyes happily, and asked him what book she should bring him. He mentioned a certain volume relating to archaeological research, which she at once procured, and seeing Peter coming up the drive she gave her father another caress and went out, almost tripping, for so quickly do we respond to conditions of joy or sadness. Peter bore nothing but the town paper, which he delivered with an obsequious bow, and immediately sought his hoe again. The lawn, next to The Prince, was his greatest pride, and some weeds were beginning to come up.