To move from his place was all but impossible, though the fierce longing to be near her bade him trample even upon the shoulders of the throng to reach her, as men have done more than once to save themselves from death by fire in crowded places.

Still the singing of the hymn continued, and would continue, as he knew, until the moment of the Elevation.

He strained his hearing to catch the sounds that came from the quarter where she sat.

In a chorus of a thousand singers he fancied that he could have distinguished the tender, heart-stirring vibration of her tones.

Never woman sang, never could woman sing again, as she had once sung, though her voice had been as soft as it had been sweet, and tuned to vibrate in the heart rather than in the ear.