Once more came the pleading tones of the pipe, but when the chorus took up the refrain again, it was in loud rejoicing:
"Yes, the holy hymn of grace
Sounds through all eternity."
And in unison voices and shawm concluded in a triumphant song of joy.
There was a moment of intense silence; the grandfather sat speechless, hands folded over his knees. Then one of the boys ran off, others quickly followed, and then the whole crowd rapidly dispersed over the green meadow where a large herd of cows from the valley was grazing under the care of comrades of the choir boys.
Vereli alone remained with Jos and Vinzi, but he also suddenly disappeared; he never did stay long where absolute quiet reigned. When the grandfather at last looked up, it seemed he had just returned from far away.
"You sang a beautiful song for me," he said kindly. "Where did you find it? Of course, Vinzi, you taught it to the others?"
"I got it from you," replied Vinzi.
"Hm, hm!" muttered the grandfather. "You seem to understand what is said to you. But the music, where did you find it?"
"That came to me because I wanted to sing the hymn you could no longer remember," explained Vinzi.
"It is good of you to wish to give pleasure to an old man. But wait! I had almost forgotten something," and the grandfather fumbled around in his pockets. "I have thought of you too, and told Father Silvanus about your wanting a certain kind of song. You can see how kind he is, for he has brought it to me already. But he made one condition: if you find the tune for it, you must go up there and sing the song to him. Here it is at last," and he pulled out a long sheet of paper.