[1] The English use of the word Ogee is thus defined: "An arch
or moulding which displays sectionally contrasted curves similar
to that of the _cyma reversa_." FAIRHOLT, "Dict. of Terms used in
Art;" and PARKER, "A Concise Glossary of Terms used in
Architecture."--[_Translator_.]

CHAPTER IV.

Madame Bavoil was right; to understand the welcome the Virgin could
bestow on Her visitors, the early Mass in the crypt must be attended;
above all, the Communion should be received.

Durtal made the experiment; one day when the Abbe Gevresin enjoined on
him to approach the Table, he followed the housekeeper's advice and went
to the crypt at early dawn.

The way down was by a cellar-stair lighted by a small lamp with a
sputtering wick darkening the chimney with smoke; having safely reached
the bottom, he turned to the left in the darkness; here and there, at an
angle, a floating wick threw a ruddy light on the circuit which he made
in alternate light and shade, till at last he had some notion of the
general outline of the crypt. Its plan would be fairly represented by
the nave of a wheel whence the spokes radiated in every direction,
joining the outer circle or tyre. From the circular path in which he
found himself passages diverged like the sticks of a fan, and at the end
little fogged glass windows were visible, looking almost bright in the
opaque blackness of the walls.

And by following the curve of the corridor, Durtal came to a green baize
door which he pushed open. He found himself in the side aisle of a nave
ending in a semicircle, where there was a high altar. To the right and
left two little recesses formed the arms or transept of a small cross.
The centre aisle, forming a low nave, had chairs on either side, leaving
a narrow space to give access to the altar.

It was scarcely possible to see; the sanctuary was lighted only by tiny
lamps from the roof in little saucers of lurid orange or dull gold. An
extraordinarily mild atmosphere prevailed in this underground structure,
which was also full of a singular perfume in which a musty odour of hot
wax mingled with a suggestion of damp earth. But this was only the
background, the canvas, so to speak, of the perfume, and was lost under
the embroidery of fragrance which covered it, the faded gold, as it
were, of oil in which long kept aromatic herbs had been steeped, and
old, old incense powder dissolved. It was a weird and mysterious vapour,
as st