There came first the "Pater," and then the "Ave," the "Credo," and the supplication to God to grant them the happiness of a glorious day.
"O God, vouchsafe me sufficient strength that I may avoid all that is evil, do all that is good, and suffer uncomplainingly every pain." And now there was to be no further stoppage until they reached Lourdes.
Barely three more quarters of an hour, and Lourdes, with all its vast hopes, would blaze forth in the midst of that night, so long and cruel.
Their painful awakening was enfevered by the thought; a final agitation arose amidst the morning discomfort, as the abominable sufferings began afresh.
Sister Hyacinthe, however, was especially anxious about the strange man, whose sweat-covered face she had been continually wiping.

He had so far managed to keep alive, she watching him without a pause, never having once closed her eyes, but unremittingly listening to his faint breathing with the stubborn desire to take him to the holy Grotto before he died.
All at once, however, she felt frightened; and addressing Madame de Jonquiere, she hastily exclaimed, "Pray pass me the vinegar bottle at once--I can no longer hear him breathe." For an instant, indeed, the man's faint breathing had ceased.

His eyes were still closed, his lips parted; he could not have been paler, he had an ashen hue, and was cold.

And the carriage was rolling along with its ceaseless rattle of coupling-irons; the speed of the train seemed even to have increased.
"I will rub his temples," resumed Sister Hyacinthe.

"Help me, do!" But, at a more violent jolt of the train, the man suddenly fell from the seat, face downward.
"Ah! _mon Dieu_, help me, pick him up!" They picked him up, and found him dead.