ed the big drum and thought the success of the whole thing depended
on his performance. He proposed to bring his instrument one morning and
play his part for us. We were very careful to be well dressed on that
day and discarded the short serge skirts we generally wore. All the La
Ferte ladies, particularly the wives and sisters of the performers, put
on their best clothes, and their feelings would have been hurt if we had
not done the same.

In fact it was a little difficult to dress up to the occasion. The older
women all had jet and lace on their dresses, with long trailing skirts,
and the younger ones, even children, had wonderful hats with
feathers--one or two long white ones.

It was a pretty, animated sight as we arrived. All along the road we had
met bands of people hurrying on to the town--the children with clean
faces and pinafores, the men with white shirts, and even the old
grandmothers--their shawls on their shoulders and their turbans starched
stiff--were hobbling along with their sticks, anxious to arrive. We
heard sounds of music as we got to the church--the procession was
evidently approaching. The big doors were wide open, a great many people
already inside. We looked straight down the nave to the far end where
the high altar, all flowers and candles, made a bright spot of colour.
Red draperies and banners were hanging from the columns--vases and
wreaths of flowers at the foot of the statues of the saints; chairs and
music-stands in the chancel. We went at once to our places. The cure,
with his choir boys in their little short white soutanes, red petticoats
and red shoes, was just coming out of the sacristy and the procession
was appearing at the bottom of the church. First came the Mayor in a
dress coat and white cravat--the "Adjoint" and one of the municipal
council just behind, then the banner--rather a heavy one, four men
carried it. After that the "pompiers," all in uniform, each man carrying
his instrument; they didn't play as they came up the aisle, stopped
their music at the door; but when they did begin--I don't know exactly
at what moment of the mass--it was something appalling. The first piece
was a military march, executed with all the artistic conviction and
patriotic ardour of their young lungs (they were mostly young men). We
were at the top of the church, very near the performers, and the first
bursts of trumpets and bugles made one jump. They played several times.
It didn't sound too b