Thee and obey Thee, and reject Thy love no more." And a divine voice replies: "Thy prayer is heard, and once again the silence shall be broken. Nevertheless, remember that the light shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness comprehendeth it not." At this juncture a plaintive cry falls on his ears, and he goes out into the night to discover the cause. He proceeds to the Cathedral, and there, in the deeply hollowed portal, discovers the slight shrinking figure of a child—
"A boy's desolate little figure,—with uplifted
hands clasped appealingly and laid against the shut
cathedral door, and face hidden and pressed hard
upon those hands, as though in mute and inconsolable
despair. . . .
'My poor child, what troubles you? Why are you here all alone, and weeping at this late hour? Have you no home?—no parents?'
"Slowly the boy turned round, still resting his small delicate hands against the oaken door of the Cathedral, and with the tears yet wet upon his cheeks, smiled. What a sad face he had!—worn and weary, yet beautiful!—what eyes, heavy with the dews of sorrow, yet tender even in pain! Startled by the mingled purity and grief on so young a countenance, the Cardinal retreated for a moment in amaze,—then, approaching more closely, he repeated his former question with increased interest and tenderness—
'Why are you weeping here alone?'
'Because I am left alone to weep!' said the boy, answering in a soft voice of vibrating and musical melancholy. 'For me, the world is empty!. . .
