Why, he had aged in
the last month a hundred years! He looked, sitting there, so frail and
helpless that it seemed wonderful that he should have been able to get
there at all.

His hair seemed to have an added intensity of whiteness to-night, and
his beard lay against the black cloth of his gown with a contrast so
sharp that it was unreal. Maggie fancied, as she watched him, that he
was bewildered and scarcely knew where he was. Once he looked up and
round about him; he put his hand to his brow and then let it fall as
though he had no longer any control over it.

She was now so touched by the pathos of his helplessness that she could
think of nothing else and longed to go to him and comfort him. Time
stole on and it was now ten minutes to twelve. They sang another hymn,
but the voices were very weak and feeble and the words quivered round
the building in a ghostly whisper. Then Thurston came to the Master and
gave him his arm and led him to the reading-desk. The old man seemed
for a moment as though he would fall, then, holding to the front of the
desk, he spoke in a very weak and faltering voice. Maggie could not
catch many of his words: "My children--only a little time--Our
preparation now is finished ... God has promised ... Not the least of
these His little ones shall perish ... Let us not fear but be ready to
meet Him as our Friend ... our Friend ... God our Father ..." Then in a
stronger voice: "Now during these last minutes let us kneel in silent
prayer."

They all knelt down. Maggie had no thoughts, no desire except that the
time might pass; she seemed to kneel there asleep waiting for the
moment when some one should tell her that the time had gone and she was
safe. The moments dragged eternally; a thrilling suspense like a flood
of water pouring into an empty space had filled the Chapel. No one
moved. Suddenly into the heart of the silence there struck the first
note of the clock tolling the hour. With Maggie it was as though that
sound liberated her from the spell that had been upon her. She looked
up; she saw the master standing, his hands stretched out, his face
splendid with glory and happiness.

He looked beyond them all, beyond the Chapel, beyond the world. He gave
one cry:

"My God, Thou art come." Some other words followed but were caught up
and muffled. He fell forward, collapsing in a heap against the desk.
His head struck the wood and then he lay there perfectly still.

Maggie could only dim