s present had seen a black cat come down
the chimney and disappear. Instantly everyone concluded it must be the
devil, and began to seek it out. It was not without great difficulty
that it was caught; for, terrified at the sight of so many people and at
the noise, the poor animal had sought refuge under a canopy; but at last
it was secured and carried to the superior's bedside, where Barre began
his exorcisms once more, covering the cat with signs of the cross, and
adjuring the devil to take his true shape. Suddenly the 'touriere', (the
woman who received the tradespeople,) came forward, declaring the
supposed devil to be only her cat, and she immediately took possession of
it, lest some harm should happen to it.

The gathering had been just about to separate, but Barry fearing that the
incident of the cat might throw a ridiculous light upon the evil spirits,
resolved to awake once more a salutary terror by announcing that he was
going to burn the flowers through which the second spell had been made to
work. Producing a bunch of white roses, already faded, he ordered a
lighted brazier to be brought. He then threw the flowers on the glowing
charcoal, and to the general astonishment they were consumed without any
visible effect: the heavens still smiled, no peal of thunder was heard,
and no unpleasant odour diffused itself through the room. Barre feeling
that the baldness of this act of destruction had had a bad effect,
predicted that the morrow would bring forth wondrous things; that the
chief devil would speak more distinctly than hitherto; that he would
leave the body of the superior, giving such clear signs of his passage
that no one would dare to doubt any longer that it was a case of genuine
possession. Thereupon the criminal lieutenant, Henri Herve, who had been
present during the exorcism, said they must seize upon the moment of his
exit to ask about Pivart, who was unknown at Loudun, although everyone
who lived there knew everybody else. Barre replied in Latin, "Et hoc
dicet epuellam nominabit" (He will not only tell about him, but he will
also name the young girl). The young girl whom the devil was to name
was, it may be recollected, she who had introduced the flowers into the
convent, and whose name the demon until now had absolutely refused to
give. On the strength of these promises everyone went home to await the
morrow with impatience.

CHAPTER IV

That evening Grandier asked the bailiff for