Hath he crushed my very heart in his hand ? -- And thou to whom I committed my child , how hast thou fulfilled thy trust ? Give me back the boy well , sound , alive -- alive -- or earth and heaven shall avenge me ! '' The agonized shriek of Catharine was answered by the faint -- the very faint -- voice of a child . On this day it had become evident to Pearson , to his aged guest and to Dorothy that Ilbrahim 's brief and troubled pilgrimage drew near its close . The two former would willingly have remained by him to make use of the prayers and pious discourses which they deemed appropriate to the time , and which , if they be impotent as to the departing traveller 's reception in the world whither he goes , may at least sustain him in bidding adieu to earth . But , though Ilbrahim uttered no complaint , he was disturbed by the faces that looked upon him ; so that Dorothy 's entreaties and their own conviction that the child 's feet might tread heaven 's pavement and not soil it had induced the two Quakers to remove . Ilbrahim then closed his eyes and grew calm , and , except for now and then a kind and low word to his nurse , might have been thought to slumber . As nightfall came on , however , and the storm began to rise , something seemed to trouble the repose of the boy 's mind and to render his sense of hearing active and acute . If a passing wind lingered to shake the casement , he strove to turn his head toward it ; if the door jarred to and fro upon its hinges , he looked long and anxiously thitherward ; if the heavy voice of the old man as he read the Scriptures rose but a little higher , the child almost held his dying-breath to listen ; if a snowdrift swept by the cottage with a sound like the trailing of a garment , Ilbrahim seemed to watch that some visitant should enter . But after a little time he relinquished whatever secret hope had agitated him and with one low complaining whisper turned his cheek upon the pillow . He then addressed Dorothy with his usual sweetness and besought her to draw near him ; she did so , and Ilbrahim took her hand in both of his , grasping it with a gentle pressure , as if to assure himself that he retained it . At intervals , and without disturbing the repose of his countenance , a very faint trembling passed over him from head to foot , as if a mild but somewhat cool wind had breathed upon him and made him shiver . As the boy thus led her by the hand in his quiet progress over the borders of eternity , Dorothy almost imagined that she could discern the near though dim delightfulness of the home he was about to reach ; she would not have enticed the little wanderer back , though she bemoaned herself that she must leave him and return . But just when Ilbrahim 's feet were pressing on the soil of Paradise he heard a voice behind him , and it recalled him a few , few paces of the weary path which he had travelled . As Dorothy looked upon his features she perceived that their placid expression was again disturbed . Her own thoughts had been so wrapped in him that all sounds of the storm and of human speech were lost to her ; but when Catharine 's shriek pierced through the room , the boy strove to raise himself . `` Friend , she is come ! Open unto her ! '' cried he .
In a moment his mother was kneeling by the bedside ; she drew Ilbrahim to her bosom , and he nestled there with no violence XXXXX joy , but contentedly as if he were hushing himself to sleep .
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