He's been dead for some time

He's been dead for some timeAt that time one of the chapellinear actuatorleaders wasHydraulic cylinderdangerously ill，and because he had no family，some of the young men offered to sit with him at night．One night Silas was sitting alone at the old man's bedside．Time seemed to pass slowly in the quiet，dark room．But suddenly he realized that the man was no longer breathing．He was dead．

‘Strange！'thought Silas．‘His body's cold！He's been dead for some time！Why did't I notice？Perhaps I've had anoth－er fit．And it's already four o'clock in thelinear actuatormorning．Why hasn't William come？He promised he'd come at two o'clock！’Hydraulic cylinderHe hurried out of the house to call the doctor and the minister，and then went to work as usual，still wondering why William had not arrived．

But that evening，after work，William came to his room，with the minister．They were both looking very serious．

‘You must come to the chapel at once，'said Mr Paston．

‘But why？’asked Silas，looking unhappily at them．

‘You will hear when you get there，was the only answer．

Then，in the chapel，Silas stood alone，in front of all the peo－ple who were once his friends．linear actuatorThe room was silent．There was a pocket－knife in theHydraulic cylinderminister's hand．

‘Where did you leave this knife？’he asked．