Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/189

 hours, only arousing once, much earlier in the day, to stare at the boys with no recognition and  then to drop into unconsciousness again. But now, almost as soon as Oscar’s firm hand closed  about his wrist to feel his pulse, he opened his  eyes, looked at the other with slowly dawning  comprehension and said:

“I was wrong about that road, Oscar, and you were right.”

“It wass no matter,” his friend answered hastily, his voice sounding Swedish again in the extremity of his feeling. “Opening up these wheat lands might not have been advisable then, when  it was just a question of dollars and cents. Now it is different, it is a matter of daily bread and  lives and victory.”

But Johnny Edmonds did not hear. Having given voice to the thought that had so long been  uppermost in his mind, he drifted contentedly  away into sleep again, real sleep this time, with  no further mutterings and restless movements of  his head upon the pillow. Oscar got up quickly and went to stand at the window, looking out with