all those past impressions; "all the
sorrow and the sighing, all the magic of the hour." We listened
spell-bound, enraptured; and again we were in paradise. No wonder he
inspired his pupils to accomplish the impossible. It lasted only a
quarter of an hour, but during that time we never stirred hand or foot,
scarcely breathed. Ordinary life was suspended; we were conscious only
of soul and spirit. When this divine influence ceased we were hardly
aware of the silence that succeeded. The monk had thrown us into a
trance from which it was difficult to awaken. Only when his cloaked and
cowled figure once more entered the choir and quietly approached us did
we rouse to a sense of outward things.

"I see my music has pleased you," he said. "I do not affect to
depreciate its power, since it influences me no less than others. For
the time being I am lost to myself. All my soul seems expressing
thoughts that words could never utter. No credit is due to me for a
power outside and beyond me. The moment I sit down to the organ, Saint
Cecilia takes possession of me, and I merely follow whither she leads.
Of all arts, it is the most divine. Now before we separate let me take
you into the Chapel of the Virgin. The image, you know, is considered
the great treasure of the monastery."

In his voice there seemed almost an inflection of doubt or amusement.
"And you also look upon it in this light?" we asked. "You believe in all
the miracles, legends and traditions time has gathered round the image?"

"I must not talk heresy," smiled the monk; "but I believe more in my
music."

We had entered the small chapel, where a light was burning before the
celebrated image, black and polished as ebony; an image less than two
feet high, seated in a chair, with an infant in its arms. The
workmanship was rough and rude, the face ugly and African. There was
nothing about it to raise the slightest emotion, for it was not even
artistic.

"On this very spot," said the monk, "Ignatius Loyola is said to have
waited for hours in rapture watching the image and receiving
manifestations, after which he founded the Order of the Jesuits. He laid
his sword upon the altar, declaring that he had done with it for ever,
and henceforth his life should be devoted to paths of peace. In like
manner I have stood here for hours, waiting for inspiration, for some
manifestation, some token, though it should be only borne in upon the
mind with no outward and visible sign.