Next day Ed was worse , and for a week the answer was the same , when Jack crept to the back door with his eager question . Others came also , for the dear boy lying upstairs had friends everywhere , and older neighbors thought of him even more anxiously and tenderly than his mates . It was not fever , but some swifter trouble , for when Saturday night came , Ed had gone home to a longer and more peaceful Sabbath than any he had ever known in this world . Jack had been there in the afternoon , and a kind message had come down to him that his friend was not suffering so much , and he had gone away , hoping , in his boyish ignorance , that all danger was over . An hour later he was reading in the parlor , having no heart for play , when Frank came in with a look upon his face which would have prepared Jack for the news if he had seen it . But he did not look up , and Frank found it so hard to speak , that he lingered a moment at the piano , as he often did when he came home . It stood open , and on the rack was the `` Jolly Brothers ' Galop , '' which he had been learning to play with Ed . Big boy as he was , the sudden thought that never again would they sit shoulder to shoulder , thundering the marches or singing the songs both liked so well , made his eyes fill as he laid away the music , and shut the instrument , feeling as if he never wanted to touch it again . Then he went and sat down beside Jack with an arm round his neck , trying to steady his voice by a natural question before he told the heavy news . `` What are you reading , Jacky ? '' The unusual caress , the very gentle tone , made Jack look up , and the minute he saw Frank 's face he knew the truth . `` Is Ed -- ? '' he could not say the hard word , and Frank could only answer by a nod as he winked fast , for the tears would come . Jack said no more , but as the book dropped from his knee he hid his face in the sofa-pillow and lay quite still , not crying , but trying to make it seem true that his dear Ed had gone away for ever . He could not do it , and presently turned his head a little to say , in a despairing tone , -- `` I do n't see what I shall do without him ! '' `` I know it 's hard for you . It is for all of us . '' `` You 've got Gus , but now I have n't anybody . Ed was always so good to me ! '' and with the name so many tender recollections came , that poor Jack broke down in spite of his manful attempts to smother the sobs in the red pillow .
There was an unconscious reproach in the words , Frank thought ; for he was not as gentle as XXXXX , and he did not wonder that Jack loved and mourned for the lost friend like a brother .
Brothers Ed Frank Gus Jack Jacky afternoon night sofa-pillow week