terrible, and perhaps less
amusing.

Meantime the progress of the other exorcisms met with like interruptions.
Pere Pierre de Saint Thomas, who conducted the operations in the
Carmelite church, asked one of the possessed sisters where Grandier's
books of magic were; she replied that they were kept at the house of a
certain young girl, whose name she gave, and who was the same to whom
Adam had been forced to apologise. De Laubardemont, Moussant, Herve, and
Meunau hastened at once to the house indicated, searched the rooms and
the presses, opened the chests and the wardrobes and all the secret
places in the house, but in vain. On their return to the church, they
reproached the devil for having deceived them, but he explained that a
niece of the young woman had removed the books. Upon this, they hurried
to the niece's dwelling, but unluckily she was not at home, having spent
the whole day at a certain church making her devotions, and when they
went thither, the priests and attendants averred that she had not gone
out all day; so notwithstanding the desire of the exorcists to oblige
Adam they were forced to let the matter drop.

These two false statements increased the number of unbelievers; but it
was announced that a most interesting performance would take place on May
4th; indeed, the programme when issued was varied enough to arouse
general curiosity. Asmodeus was to raise the superior two feet from the
ground, and the fiends Eazas and Cerberus, in emulation of their leader,
would do as much for two other nuns; while a fourth devil, named Beherit,
would go farther still, and, greatly daring, would attack M. de
Laubardemont himself, and, having spirited his councillor's cap from his
head, would hold it suspended in the air for the space of a Misereye.
Furthermore, the exorcists announced that six of the strongest men in the
town would try to prevent the contortions of the, weakest of the
convulsed nuns, and would fail.

It need hardly be said that the prospect of such an entertainment filled
the church on the appointed day to overflowing. Pere Lactance began by
calling on Asmodeus to fulfil his promise of raising the superior from
the ground. She began, hereupon, to perform various evolutions on her
mattress, and at one moment it seemed as if she were really suspended in
the air; but one of the spectators lifted her dress and showed that she
was only standing on tiptoe, which, though it might be clever, was not