Page:Little Daffydowndilly-1887.djvu/70

64 easily along, and was brought to a stand-still nearly in front of David&rsquo;s resting-place. A linchpin had fallen out, and permitted one of the wheels to slide off. The damage was slight, and occasioned merely a momentary alarm to an elderly merchant and his wife, who were returning to Boston in the carriage. While the coachman and a servant were replacing the wheel, the lady and gentleman sheltered themselves beneath the maple-trees, and there espied the bubbling fountain, and David Swan asleep beside it. Impressed with the awe which the humblest sleeper usually sheds around him, the merchant trod as lightly as the gout would allow; and his spouse took good heed not to rustle her silk gown, lest David should start up all of a sudden.

&ldquo;How soundly lie sleeps!&rdquo; whispered the old gentleman. &ldquo;From what a depth he draws that easy breath! Such sleep as that, brought on without an opiate, would be worth more to me than half my income; for it would suppose health and an untroubled mind.&rdquo; &ldquo;And youth, besides,&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;Healthy and quiet age does not sleep thus. Our slumber is no more like his than our wakefulness.&rdquo; The longer they looked the more did this elderly couple feel interested in the unknown youth, to whom the wayside and the maple shade were as a secret chamber, with the rich gloom of damask curtains brooding over him. Perceiving that a stray sunbeam glimmered down upon his face, the lady contrived to twist a branch aside, so as to intercept it. And having done this little act of kindness, she began to feel like a mother to him. &ldquo;Providence seems to have laid him here,&rdquo;