The archduke and the beautiful Italian archduchess had arrived the
night before, and were to go in stately procession to the cathedral.
And Gottlieb was to sing in the choir, and afterward, on the Monday, to
sing an Easter greeting for the archduchess at the banquet in the great
town-hall.
The mother's heart trembled with some anxiety for the child.
But the boy's was only trembling with the great longing to be allowed
to sing once more his hosannas to the blessed Savior, among the
children.
It was given him.
At first the eager voice trembled for joy, in the verse he had to sing
alone, and the choir-master's brows were knitted with anxiety. But it
cleared and steadied in a moment, and soared with a fullness and
freedom none had ever heard in it before, filling the arches of the
cathedral and the hearts of all.
And the beautiful archduchess bent over to see the child, and her soft,
dark eyes were fixed on his face, as he sang, until they filled with
tears; and, afterward, she asked who the mother of that little angel
was.
But the child's eyes were fixed on nothing earthly, and his heart was
listening for another voice--the voice all who listen for shall surely
hear.
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