Once or twice during those two years of study he had managed to send a little money to Helen, to help out with the expenses.

Now he postponed his three bi-weekly schools for one week and made his first and only trip to New York--the journey of a lifetime.
Perhaps he had at first hoped that he might meet her and be welcomed.

If so, he changed his mind on reaching the metropolis.

Aware of his uncouthness, he resolved not to shame her by claiming recognition.

But he went three times to hear her sing, first in Aida, then in Faust, and afterwards in Les Huguenots; heard her magic notes, saw her in all her queenly beauty--but saw her from the shelter of a pillar in the rear of the great opera house.