corner of the room, and
covered them with a large white cloth. The three girls had been
selected of the same height as Marie; and this cloth veiling them from
head to foot, it was impossible to distinguish one from another. The
bridegroom was only allowed to touch them with the end of his switch,
to point out which he guessed to be his bride. If wrong, he could not
dance with the latter that evening, but only with the one he had
selected in error.

The party then separated, to re-assemble at eight o'clock the next
morning. At the appointed time, after a breakfast of milk-soup, well
peppered to stimulate the appetite--for the nuptial-feast promised to
be a rich one--all assembled in the farmyard. A journey of several
miles had to be performed to obtain the nuptial benediction. Germain
mounted the gray mare, which had been new shod and decked with ribbons
for the occasion; the bride rode behind him; whilst his
brother-in-law, Jacques, was mounted on the old gray, with the
grandmother. The joyous cavalcade set out, escorted by the children on
foot, who kept firing pistols and making the horses start. Mrs
Maurice, the mother, seated with the children and the village fiddlers
in a cart, opened the procession to the sounds of the little band of
music.

A crowd was gathered at the _mairie_ and the church to see the pretty
bride. We must describe her dress, it became her so well. Her clean
muslin cap, embroidered all over, had lappets trimmed with lace; a
white kerchief, modestly crossed in front, left visible only the
delicate outline of a neck rounded like that of a dove; her dress of
fine green cloth set off her pretty figure; and she wore an apron of
violet silk, with the _bavette_ or bib, which the village lasses have
since then foolishly given up.

At the ceremony of the _offrande_, Germain, according to custom,
placed the _treizaine_--that is to say, thirteen pieces of silver--in
the hand of his bride, and slipped on her finger a silver ring of a
peculiar form, which had existed unchanged for ages, but which has now
been replaced by the _alliance d'or_.

We pass over the ceremony of the wedding. The party remounted their
steeds, and returned home at a rapid pace. The feast was splendid, and
lasted till midnight, interspersed with song and dance. The old folks
did not quit the table for fourteen hours. The grave-digger
superintended the _cuisine_, and filled his part to admiration; in
fact, he was famous in this li