noon
Euphrasia had met them at the door , but a trained nurse from the Ripton hospital was likewise in waiting ; and a New York specialist had been summoned to prolong , if possible , the life of one from whom all desire for life had passed . Before sunrise a wind came from the northern spruces ; the dawn was cloudless , fiery red , and the air had an autumn sharpness . At ten o'clock Dr. Harmon arrived , was met at the station by Austen , and spent half an hour with Dr. Tredway . At noon the examination was complete . Thanks to generations of self-denial by the Vanes of Camden Street , Mr. Hilary Vane might live indefinitely , might even recover , partially ; but at present he was condemned to remain , with his memories , in the great canopied bed . The Honourable Hilary had had another caller that morning besides Dr. Harmon , -- no less a personage than the president of the Northeastern Railroads himself , who had driven down from Fairview immediately after breakfast . Austen having gone to the station , Dr. Tredway had received Mr. Flint in the darkened hall , and had promised to telephone to Fairview the verdict of the specialist .