Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/303

  "I left him then and went aft on the other side of the ship from Burton's room, and as I went I looked my hardest at the blue water and the blue sky and the bright-work and the bright faces of the children scampering up and down the deck . . . and then a mist came before my eyes and my vision was as Dalton's would be, 'behind ground glass.'

"That night I went to him again. He greeted me quietly as I came in.

Doctor Leyden, ' said he, 'it is a terrible thing to be blind, is it not?'

"I did not answer.

" 'But it is not a terrible thing to die. We none of us fear to face death; most of us enjoy a bit of a tussle with the grim old man.'

"I had expected this and waited for him to go on.

To myself,' said Dalton, 'I consider that I am dead, practically dead.' He was silent for a few minutes and then said, 'Do you not [ 287 ]