"It must have been rather some sort of swoon than a doze that I woke out of again, when I heard a man's voice not far off, through the stillness of the 'tween-decks, reading aloud, which I soon made out to be Mr Knowles's, the missionary's; and, from the key of it, it was evidently the Bible he was reading. In a little while he gave up, and another voice came in, that I knew still better. It was Violet Hyde's--low enough, but so clear at times, that it seemed to come into the dark where I lay half-senseless, and afterwards I could even call back some of the very words; then it came to a stand, and I heard her two or three times apparently answering someone I couldn't hear. All at once, the missionary struck up the first note of a psalm-tune, and her lovely voice slid into it, till there was nothing in the whole ship, as it were, but _that_--singing the old Evening Hymn--alone--such music, I thought, never was on sea or land--when down from some opening above, out of heaven, you might have fancied, fell a chorus like the sound of angels and cherubs joining in at the end, once and again; catching up the air out of her sweet tongue, and drowning it in a way to ravish one's soul, till it sank into a hush in which you could hear the missionary's voice rise, as he prayed aloud, over the whispers of the ladies and children stealing away from round the skylight--with the slight creak of the rudder, now and then, in its case abaft, and the tide bumping and tapping outside, from the deadwood at her counter to the hollow planking amidships.
"As for me, at first blush I thought it all part of my queer visions, till somehow or other I began to revive a bit, and felt for the door of the place they had boxed me up into. However, it was fast enough, and as soon as I tried to stand upright, something over my head gave me a shove down again--it being evidently one of the steward's store-rooms abaft of the cuddy, full of bags and such like lumber, where the best I could do was to stretch myself on the heap of old canvas again, groaning from sheer weakness and desperation. Just then I heard a light step coming close past the door, out of the large cabin, and I gave another groan. A dress rustled, and the foot started to the other side of the passage.