Or her soft voice, uttering some pious word.

At last the fever left him; day by day

The hours, no longer silent, passed away.

What could she speak of? First, to still his plaints,

She told him legends of the martyred Saints;

Described the pangs, which, through God's plenteous grace,

Had gained their souls so high and bright a place.

This pious artifice soon found success -