They seemed very little. None was older than nine, and one was not eight. Each one was nervous. With some it took the form of vocal paralysis; with others excessive volun bility superimposed upon a background of an immovable smile. The organist did his benevolent best with them. He patted them on the back, and he kept a fatherly hand on their shoulders, while he accompanied them with the other. His formula hardly varied. Hadthey brought any song with them? No, except in one case—and his was a hymn. He sang it well and scored good marks because he remembered to take breath at the commas. Then the organist generally tried them with a simple carol; but, even so, one boy remained completely speechless and stood there trembling. No one could banish his nerves, so he was sent out, and someone went with him to try what persuasion could do. Eventually he was brought in again at the end. He elected to sing "Nowell," and we all sang the first verse with him.. That broke the ice, and he then sang the Yow'll enjoy getting a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.