Untitled - Electric Scotland

1842-50] DANGEROUS ILLNESS 135
dreadful sound as of a succession of screams in Archie s room
recalled my senses. Marion was already gone. In another instant
I was in his room and saw him propped up in a paroxysm of
coughing is coughing not the word for the sound. His wife and
sisters stood in mute expectation of the close ; and, when the fit
was over and he was gently lowered to his pillows, it was a relief
to see that he still breathed. He remained perfectly still, and
from that moment his breathing became regular and improvement
began. One of the most dangerous conditions of his illness had
been the adhesion of the pericardium to the heart. The violence
of the cough had probably assisted to relieve circulation, and after
this relief he slept peacefully during the remainder of the night."
On the following day he was quieter, but the
doctor gave little hope of a recovery. He was much dis
tressed about certain intricacies in the school accounts,
which he thought would not be understood after his
death, and to set his mind at rest his two brothers,
who were both skilled and accurate men of business,
tried to arrange them. They were puzzled by the
intricate character of the books, and found that to
unravel the complications was beyond their power.
Quietly and composedly
Mrs. Tait herself sat down to
the task, and, with a calmness which amazed them all,
made everything clear and simple, and then returned to
her husband s side. There is a chorus of testimony to
the remarkable power she showed in these days of trial,
carrying on as usual all necessary business, and, though
she had come to think recovery hopeless, retaining her
composure, and exercising a quieting influence upon them
all.
As he has himself written :-
There were long days and nights of watching during that
went down with
spring of 1848, when kingdoms all over Europe
a crash, and England itself was by many supposed to be on the
brink of a Revolution. Of all these outward events I knew no
thing for many days. But my young wife kept watch beside my