Sentence:  One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis ... <WSD>interrupted</WSD> the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly.