midnight
O , what a watch is that which despairing love keeps , waiting for death ! Poor Rover , the companion of Ally 's gayer hours , resolutely refused to be excluded from the sick chamber . Stretched under the little crib , he watched with unsleeping eyes every motion of the attendants , and as often as they rose to administer medicine , or change the pillow , or bathe the head , he would rise also , and look anxiously over the side of the crib , as if he understood all that was passing . About an hour past midnight , the child began to change ; her moans became fainter and fainter , her restless movements ceased , and a deep and heavy sleep settled upon her . The parents looked wistfully on the doctor . `` It is the last change , '' he said ; `` she will probably pass away before the daybreak . '' Heavier and deeper grew that sleep , and to the eye of the anxious watchers the little face grew paler and paler ; yet by degrees the breathing became regular and easy , and a gentle moisture began to diffuse itself over the whole surface .