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Stories by Foreign Authors: Spanish by Unknown
page 73 of 163 (44%)
face, and above his gray head appeared the host. At that moment the note
which Maese Perez was holding began to swell and swell, and an explosion
of unspeakable joy filled the church.

From each of the notes forming that magnificent chord a theme was
developed; and some near, others far away, these brilliant, those muffled,
one would have said that the waters and the birds, the breezes and the
forests, men and angels, earth and heaven, were singing, each in its own
language, a hymn in praise of the Saviour's birth.

The people listened, amazed and breathless. The officiating priest felt
his hands trembling; for it seemed as if he had seen the heavens opened
and the host transfigured.

The organ kept on, but its voice sank away gradually, like a tone going
from echo to echo, and dying as it goes. Suddenly a cry was heard in the
organ-loft--a piercing, shrill cry, the cry of a woman.

The organ gave a strange, discordant sound, like a sob, and then was
silent.

The multitude flocked to the stairs leading up to the organ-loft, towards
which the anxious gaze of the faithful was turned.

"What has happened? What is the matter?" one asked the other, and no one
knew what to reply. The confusion increased. The excitement threatened to
disturb the good order and decorum fitting within a church.

"What was that?" asked the great ladies of the chief judge. He had been
one of the first to ascend to the organ-loft. Now, pale and displaying
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