"Yes," he called, springing up in bed and staring into the semi-darkness.
"Come quickly; your father is very ill!" It was his mother who spoke, and her voice was vibrant and anxious.
He sprang out of bed at once, and hurriedly got into his clothes. In a few moments he was by his father's bedside.
At first he thought that his mother had alarmed herself and him unnecessarily. David lay on his side as if asleep.
"I cannot rouse him," she said in gasps. "I've tried every way, but he doesn't move."
Ralph laid his hand on his father's shoulder and shook him, but there was no response of any kind.
"No, no. He breathes quite regularly," Ralph answered, and he took the candle and held it where the light fell full on his father's eyelids. For a moment there was a slight tremor, then his eyes slowly opened, and a look of infinite appeal seemed to dart out of them.
"He has had a stroke," Ralph answered, starting back. "He is paralysed. Call Ruth, and I will go for the doctor at once."
Twenty-four hours later David was sufficiently recovered to scrawl on a piece of paper with a black lead pencil the words--
He watched intently the faces of his wife and children as they read the words, and a smile played over his own. It seemed to be a smile of triumph. He was not going to live in the cottage after all. He was going to end his days where he had always hoped to do, and no one could cheat him out of that victory.
Ralph sat down by the bedside and took his father's hand. The affection between the two was very tender. They had been more than father and son, they had been friends and comrades. Ruth and her mother ran out of the room to hide their tears. They did not want to distress the dying man by obtruding their grief.
For several minutes Ralph was unable to speak. David never took his eyes from his face. He seemed waiting for some assurance that his message was understood.
"We understand, father," Ralph said at length. "No one can turn you out now."
David smiled again. Then the tears filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
"You always wanted to end your days here," Ralph went on, "and it looks as if you were going to do it."
David raised the hand that was not paralysed and pointed upward.