ed, 'look here, and here! Bow down in grief and
pity---- Jesus falls beneath the weight of His cross. The ascent of
Calvary is very tiring. He has dropped down on His knees. But He does
not stay to wipe even the sweat from His brow, He rises up again and
continues His journey.... And again Jesus falls beneath the weight of
His cross. At each step He staggers. This time He has fallen on His
side, so heavily that for a moment He lies there quite breathless. His
lacerated hands have relaxed their hold upon the cross. His bruised and
aching feet leave blood-stained prints behind them. Agonising weariness
overwhelms Him, for He carries upon His shoulders the sins of the whole
world.'

Albine gazed at the pictured Jesus, lying in a blue shirt prostrate
beneath the cross, the blackness of which bedimmed the gold of His
aureole. Then, with her glance wandering far away, she said:

'Oh! those meadow-paths! Have you no memory left, Serge? Have you
forgotten those soft grassy walks through the meadows, amidst very seas
of greenery? On the afternoon I am telling you of, we had only meant
to stay out of doors an hour; but we went wandering on and were still
wandering when the stars came out above us. Ah! how velvety it was, that
endless carpet, soft as finest silk! It was just like a green sea whose
gentle waters lapped us round. And well we knew whither those beguiling
paths that led nowhere, were taking us! They were taking us to our love,
to the joy of living together, to the certainty of happiness.'

With his hands trembling with anguish, Abbe Mouret pointed to the
remaining pictures.

'Jesus,' he stammered, 'Jesus is nailed to the cross. The nails are
hammered through His outspread hands. A single nail suffices for his
feet, whose bones split asunder. He, Himself, while His flesh quivers
with pain, fixes His eyes upon heaven and smiles.... Jesus is crucified
between two thieves. The weight of His body terribly aggravates His
wounds. From His brow, from His limbs, does a bloody sweat stream down.
The two thieves insult Him, the passers-by mock at Him, the soldiers
cast lots for His raiment. And the shadowy darkness grows deeper and the
sun hides himself.... Jesus dies upon the cross. He utters a piercing
cry and gives up the ghost. Oh! most terrible of deaths! The veil of the
temple is rent in twain from top to bottom. The earth quakes, the stones
are broken, and the very graves open.'

The priest had fallen on his knees, h