George turned to the child again. "John Jay," he said, "do you know that
I'm going away soon?" Without waiting for an answer, he hurried on, lest
another spell of coughing should interrupt him. "When I was a little
fellow like you I heard so much about spirits and graveyards and haunted
places that I had a horror of dying. I could not think of it without a
shiver. But I've found out that death isn't a cold, ugly thing, my boy,
and I want you to remember all your life every word I'm saying to you
now. There is nothing to dread in simply going down this road and
through the gate as Doctor Leonard did, and death is no more than that.
We just go down the turnpike till we get to the end of this life, and
then there's the toll-gate. We lay down our old worn-out bodies, just as
Doctor Leonard left his coat here, because he wouldn't need it farther
up the road. Then the bar flies up and lets us through. It drops so
quickly that no one ever sees what lies on the other side, but we know
that there is neither sorrow nor crying beyond it, nor any more pain.
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