Charles loosened his hands suddenly from Sarah's hands. She was standing beside Charles, also feeling helpless. She lowers her head slowly and silently. Mr. Thomas was always so kind to everyone, how could he be so ill without anybody knowing about it? Now he was dying soon.

She suddenly recalled something he had said before, which told Sarah that Mr. Thomas had already known about his condition at that time, but had not been willing to let his family know about the seriousness of his ...