n. And be it here
recorded that Blazius, for the first time in his life, forgot to drink
his wine, though it was excellent, and left his glass half full. He
could not have given a more convincing proof of the depth and sincerity
of his grief.

Isabelle and Serafina spent the night in an adjoining chamber, sharing
the one small bed it contained, and the men lay down upon bundles
of straw that the stable-boy brought in for them. None of them slept
much--being haunted by disturbing dreams inspired by the sad and trying
events of the previous day--and all were up and stirring at an early
hour, for poor Matamore's burial was to be attended to. For want of
something more appropriate the aged hostess and Mme. Leonarde had
enveloped the body in an old piece of thick canvass--still bearing
traces of the foliage and garlands of flowers originally painted in
bright colours upon it--in which they had sewed it securely, so that it
looked not unlike an Egyptian mummy. A board resting on two cross
pieces of wood served as a bier, and, the body being placed upon it, was
carried by Herode, Blazius, Scapin and Leander. A large, black velvet
cloak, adorned with spangles, which was used upon the stage by
sovereign pontiffs or venerable necromancers, did duty as a pall--not
inappropriately surely. The little cortege left the inn by a small door
in the rear that opened upon a deserted common, so as to avoid passing
through the street and rousing the curiosity of the villagers, and set
off towards a retired spot, indicated by the friendly old woman, where
no one would be likely to witness or interfere with their proceedings.
The early morning was gray and cold, the sky leaden--no one had ventured
abroad yet save a few peasants searching for dead wood and sticks, who
looked with suspicious eyes upon the strange little procession making
its way slowly through the untrodden snow, but did not attempt to
approach or molest it. They reached at last the lonely spot where they
were to leave the mortal remains of poor Matamore, and the stable-boy,
who had accompanied them carrying a spade, set to work to dig the grave.
Several carcasses of animals lay scattered about close at hand, partly
hidden by the snow--among them two or three skeletons of horses, picked
clean by birds of prey; their long heads, at the end of the slender
vertebral columns, peering out horribly at them, and their ribs, like
the sticks of an open fan stripped of its covering, appea