right hand, made the sign of the cross, and in a slow
and solemn voice pronounced the Latin words which purify men's souls,
but before they were finished the old man was shaken by a rapid shock,
as if something had broken inside him; he no longer breathed. He was
dead.

"When I turned round, I saw a sight which was even more horrible than
the death struggle of this unfortunate man; the three old women were
standing up huddled close together; hideous, and grimacing with fear and
horror. I went up to them, and they began to utter shrill screams, while
la Jean-Jean, whose leg had been burnt, and could not longer support
her, fell to the ground at full length.

"Sister Saint-Benedict left the dead man, ran up to her infirm old
women, and without a word or a look for me, wrapped their shawls round
them, gave them their crutches, pushed them to the door, made them go
out, and disappeared with them into the dark night.

"I saw that I could not even let a hussar accompany them, for the mere
rattle of a sword would have sent them mad with fear.

"The _Cure_ was still looking at the dead man; but at last he turned
round to me and said:

"'Oh! What a horrible thing!'"

IN THE WOOD

The Mayor was just going to sit down to breakfast, when he was told that
the rural policeman was waiting for him at the Mansion-house with two
prisoners, and he went there immediately, and found old Hochedur
standing up and watching a middle-class couple of mature years, with a
severe look.

The man, a fat old fellow with a red nose and white hair, seemed utterly
dejected; while the woman, a little roundabout, fat woman, with shining
cheeks, looked at the agent of the authorities who had arrested them,
with defiant eyes.

"What is it? What is it? Hochedur?"

The rural policeman made his deposition: He had gone out that morning at
his usual time, in order to go on his beat from the forest of Champioux
as far as the boundaries of Argenteuil. He had not noticed anything
unusual in the country except that it was a fine day, and that the wheat
was doing well, when the son of old Bredel, who was going over his vines
a second time, called out to him: "Here, Daddy Hochedur, go and have a
look into the skirts of the wood, in the first thicket, and you will
catch a pair of pigeons there that must be a hundred and thirty years
old between them!"

He went in the direction that had been indicated to him, and had gone
into the thicket, and ther