uld be
carefully noted down by skeptical investigators on their neatly ruled
sheets, _if only the mysteries of a sick soul could be revealed_!

Suddenly a great burst of singing drew my attention to the open space
beyond the gleaming white church with its sharp-pointed towers, and I
drew nearer, pushing my way through a dense multitude gathered to
witness the procession of pilgrims and the Blessing of the Sick. In all
the world there is no such sight as this, nothing that can stir the
human soul so deeply. Inside the concourse, fringing the great crowds,
lay the afflicted--on litters, on reclining chairs, on blankets spread
over the ground; standing and kneeling, men, women and children from all
lands and of all stations, pallid-faced, emaciated, suffering, dying,
brought here to supplicate for help when all other help has failed them.

"_Seigneur, nous vous adorons!_" chanted a priest with golden voice and
ten thousand tongues responded:

"_Seigneur, nous vous adorons!_"

"_Jesus, Fils de Marie, ayez pitie de nous!_" came the inspired cry.

"_Jesus, Fils de Marie, ayez pitie de nous!_" crashed the answer.

"_Hosanna! Hosanna au Fils de David!_"

"_Hosanna! Hosanna au Fils de David!_" thundered the multitude, and the
calm hills resounded.

It was an immense, an indescribable moment, not to be resisted. I felt
myself literally in the presence of God, and choking, almost dying with
emotion, I waited for what was to come.

Suddenly at the far end of the crowd a great shouting started and spread
like a powder-train, with a violent clapping of hands.

"A miracle! A miracle!" the cries proclaimed.

They told me afterwards that five miraculous cures were accomplished at
this moment, but I knew nothing about it. My eyes were closed. I had
fallen to my knees in the dust and was sobbing my heart out, not in
grief but in joy, for _I knew_ that all was well with me now and would
be in the days to come. I knew that Christopher would be restored to me,
and that I would be allowed to make him happy. There would be no more
doubt or fear in either of us--only love. _I knew this!_

As I knelt there filled with a spirit of infinite faith and serenity, it
seemed as if, above the tumult of the crowd, I heard my name spoken
gently--"Penelope!"

I knew, of course, that it could not be a real voice, for I was a
stranger here, yet there was nothing disturbing to me in this illusion.
It came rather like a comforting benediction, a