Alas! in this our valley of the shadow of death, how many such vigils have been kept, and are keeping! — it is a common scene: — the still and darkened room — darkened, for the eyes are too weak to bear that light which is departing from them for ever; where, if a sunbeam enters, it is like an unwelcome visitor; where one sweet and watchful nurse glides like a shadow; — so subdued is every movement, the loudest noise in that still chamber is the beating of the sufferer's heart, or the low music of a whispered question, fainter than even the failing voice which answers.