"But I can't forget, until I die
Ole Massa an' de blue-tailed fly.
Stanton's eyes filled with hot tears. He had not wept since his daughter died.
The breathing from the bed was growing faint.Suddenly the Surgeon-General held up his hand. He felt the heart and shook his head. "Fetch your mother,"he said to Robert Lincoln. The minister had dropped on his knees by the bedside and was praying.
"The President is dead," said the Surgeon-General,and at the words it seemed that every head in the room was bowed on the breast.