I find to my great vexation that I have overslept. I promise you it
shall not happen again."

"I am not sure of that, if you are out late in Chicago, and passing
through painful scenes. I should say that this city was a peculiarly
bad place for a young man to be out late in."

"It was an experience wholly unexpected to me, and I hope it may never
occur again. It was a scene of trouble that I had no hand in making,
but which even humanity would not permit me to leave at once."

"Not a scene of measles or smallpox, I hope. I am told that your mission
people are indulging in these things most of the time. You have not
been exposed to any contagious disease?"

"I assure you I have not."

"Very well; be ready to assist me to-morrow morning, for we have no
slight task before us, and I wish to complete it as soon as possible.
I shall be here at half-past six, and do not promise to sing you awake
every morning. Were you not a little startled to hear such unwonted
sounds echoing through the prosaic old store?"

"I was indeed. At first I could not believe that it was a human voice."

"That is rather an equivocal compliment."

"I did not mean to speak in compliment at all, but to say in all
sincerity that I have seldom heard such heavenly music."