noon
And far into the night , through silent Cheapside , a rolling voice swelled through much laughter thus : `` Gai Ion la , gai le rosier , Du joli mois de Mai . '' The next day there were heavy heads in London ; but the next day , also , a man lay ill in the hut on the island of St. Jean . Antoine had sung his last song . He had waked in the night with a start of pain , and by the time the sun was halting at noon above the Rose Tree Mine , he had begun a journey , the record of which no man has ever truly told , neither its beginning nor its end ; because that which is of the spirit refuseth to be interpreted by the flesh . Some signs there be , but they are brief and shadowy ; the awe of It is hidden in the mind of him that goeth out lonely unto God . When the call goes forth , not wife nor child nor any other can hold the wayfarer back , though he may loiter for an instant on the brink . The poor medicaments which Angelique brings avail not ; these soothing hands and healing tones , they pass through clouds of the middle place between heaven and earth to Antoine .