Hospital Sketches

…gathering the bent head in my arms, as freely as if he had been a little child, I said, "Let me help you bear it, John."
Never, on any human countenance, have I seen so swift and beautiful a look of gratitude, surprise and comfort, as that which answered me more eloquently than the whispered—
"Thank you, ma'am, this is right good! this is what I wanted!"
"Then why not ask for it before?"
"I didn't like to be a trouble; you seemed so busy, and I could manage to get on alone."