"Hush, hush, Cathelineau!" she said. "Did you not hear sister Anna say
that you should not speak."
"What avails it now for me to be silent?" said he. "I know,
Mademoiselle, that I am dying, and, believe me, I do not fear to die.
Your kind care can make my last few hours tranquil and easy, but it
cannot much prolong them. Let me have the pleasure of telling you that
I appreciate your kindness, and that I give you in return all that a
dying man can give--my prayers."
"And I will pray for you, Cathelineau," said Agatha. "But will not every
Vendean pray for the hero who first led them to victory, who first
raised his hand against the Republic?"
"How precious are the praises of such as you!" said he. "Pray for me
and for your other poor countrymen who have fallen in this contest; such
prayers as yours will assuredly find entrance into heaven."
He then again laid tranquil for a while, but his spirit was not quiet
within him; he felt that there was that which he longed to say before
he died, and that the only moments in which the power of speaking would
be left to him were fast passing from him.
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