rst time, thousands of people cried. Today only a small
company of listeners cried, but I think that even the woods and the
brooks and everything round wept also. Above all of them wept Bacha
Filina. Palko who sat next to him laid his arm around his neck and
cried with him. He understood him. Thus perished once the ship that
carried Stephen. It sank in the terrible depths with him. In vain they
waited, in vain they called. Uncle Filina would never see him again.

The boys did not dream, nor the helpers of Bacha, that anything
existed as beautiful as that which was hidden in the lady's throat.
You could almost hear the crashings of the breaking ship, and feel the
hopelessness of the situation. It ended like sad, soft wailings of the
perishing ones. The lady noticed the weeping her song had awakened.
She realized that it would not be easy to stop it. Then she did
something which that very morning she would have been in doubt that
she would be able to do. She sang a song hidden in her memory from her
old home, and which she had hated with her whole heart, because she
could not forget it.

"My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Saviour Divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
Oh, let me from this day
Be wholly Thine!

"May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee,
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!

"While life's dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow's tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.

"When ends life's transient dream,
When death's cold, sullen stream
Shall o'er me roll;
Blest Saviour, then, in love,
Fear and distrust remove;
Oh, bear me safe above,
A ransomed soul!"

Perhaps nowhere and never before, were those beautiful lines sung so
impressively. When she stopped, Bacha Filina stood near her and very
seriously said, "Thank you, Madame Slavkovsky, for that precious song.
You have shown me great kindness thereby. Your beautiful ballad opened
a deep wound in my heart which was not quite healed. It almost seemed
that I must die because of it, but this holy song healed it again. God
bless you for it! But one thing I must ask you: let us write this song
down, and you must teach us the melody that we may cheer ourselves
with it in life