Maire (and I heard afterwards that
every man who saw it saw his own name, though the whole _facade_ of the
Cathedral would not have held a full list of all the people of
Semur)--to yield their places, which they had not filled aright, to
those who knew the meaning of life, being dead. NOUS AUTRES MORTS--these
were the words which blazed out oftenest of all, so that every one saw
them. And 'Go!' this terrible placard said--'Go! leave this place to us
who know the true signification of life.' These words I remember, but
not the rest; and even at this moment it struck me that there was no
explanation, nothing but this _vraie signification de la vie._ I felt
like one in a dream: the light coming and going before me; one word,
then another, appearing--sometimes a phrase like that I have quoted,
blazing out, then dropping into darkness. For the moment I was struck
dumb; but then it came back to my mind that I had an example to give,
and that for me, eminently a man of my century, to yield credence to a
miracle was something not to be thought of. Also I knew the necessity of
doing something to break the impression of awe and terror on the mind of
the people. 'This is a trick,' I cried loudly, that all might hear. 'Let
some one go and fetch M. de Clairon from the Musee. He will tell us how
it has been done.' This, boldly uttered, broke the spell. A number of
pale faces gathered round me. 'Here is M. le Maire--he will clear it
up,' they cried, making room for me that I might approach nearer. 'M.
le Maire is a man of courage--he has judgment. Listen to M. le Maire.'
It was a relief to everybody that I had spoken. And soon I found myself
by the side of M. le Cure, who was standing among the rest, saying
nothing, and with the air of one as much bewildered as any of us. He
gave me one quick look from under his eyebrows to see who it was that
approached him, as was his way, and made room for me, but said nothing.
I was in too much emotion myself to keep silence--indeed, I was in that
condition of wonder, alarm, and nervous excitement, that I had to speak
or die; and there seemed an escape from something too terrible for flesh
and blood to contemplate in the idea that there was trickery here. 'M.
le Cure,' I said, 'this is a strange ornament that you have placed on
the front of your church. You are standing here to enjoy the effect. Now
that you have seen how successful it has been, will not you tell me in
confidence how it is done?'