the children above their heads, and
the men and women who were carrying them broke through the mass, all
going in the direction of the Vatican: the bigger boys forced their own
way, holding hands, rushing between the people's legs, ten and twenty at
a time. In a few minutes hundreds of children--a whole population of
creatures concealed until now--some by means of their own legs, some
pushed, some carried, were crowded into one corner of the square, and in
the mean while arose a deafening cry from the women, 'Take care! Slowly!
My child!' Soon after another louder and more imperative call, 'The
women! the women!' Another disturbance, another breaking through the
crowd in all directions. Then a third and more formidable cry, 'The
army! the soldiers! Forward!' And once more an indescribable upheaving,
but simultaneous, resolute, rapid. There were none of the difficulties
and delays usually seen in similar cases: all worked and helped to
accomplish the end. There was an impetuosity, a fervor, and yet an
astonishing accord: this innumerable crowd seemed ruled and controlled.
By degrees the bustle ceased, all cries were hushed, arms were dropped,
everybody looked around, and it seemed as if by enchantment the
children, the women and the soldiers had disappeared. They all stood on
the right side of the square, divided into three great masses, from the
door of St. Peter's to the middle of the Colonnade, facing the Vatican,
dense and compact. The multitude burst forth into boisterous applause."

"But the Vatican?" asked the family for the third time, all in the same
breath.

"Still closed and quiet as a convent."

"Oh! great Heavens!" they exclaimed, confounded.

"Wait! All at once the applause ceased, and all heads were seen turning
around slowly and whispering, 'Silence! silence!' The murmur ran from
the beginning to the end of the two streets which open into the square.
The whisper soon died away entirely, and there was such a stillness,
such silence, as I should never have believed possible among so many
people. It was something super-human. In the midst of this silence I
seemed suddenly to hear a faint voice that I could not understand, a
vague sound coming from a distance. Gradually, insensibly, it
increased--first an uplifting of voices, now far, now near, uncertain
and discordant; soon more distinct, more decided, finally blending as if
by magic, till a single voice, tremulous, silvery, suave, rose to
heaven, echoin