y a large
party on pleasure bent, was just then setting out for his estate of Grand
Fonds, which lay in the same direction. The reason for the offer was
that Canaye and his friends, having heard that the last words of Grandier
had affected Pere Lactance's mind, expected to find a great deal of
amusement in exciting the terrors of their travelling-companion. And in
truth, for a day or two, the boon companions sharpened their wits at the
expense of the worthy monk, when all at once, on a good road and without
apparent cause, the carriage overturned. Though no one was hurt, the
accident appeared so strange to the pleasure-seekers that it put an end
to the jokes of even the boldest among them. Pere Lactance himself
appeared melancholy and preoccupied, and that evening at supper refused
to eat, repeating over and over again--

"'It was wrong of me to deny Grandier the confessor he asked for; God is
punishing me, God is punishing me!'

"On the following morning the journey was resumed, but the evident
distress of mind under which Pere Lactance laboured had so damped the
spirits of the party that all their gaiety had disappeared. Suddenly,
just outside Fenet, where the road was in excellent condition and no
obstacle to their progress apparent, the carriage upset for the second
time. Although again no one was hurt, the travellers felt that there was
among them someone against whom God's anger was turned, and their
suspicions pointing to Pere Lactance, they went on their way, leaving him
behind, and feeling very uncomfortable at the thought that they had spent
two or three days in his society.

"Pere Lactance at last reached Notre-Dame des Andilliers; but however
numerous were the miracles there performed, the remission of the doom
pronounced by the martyr on Pere Lactance was not added to their number;
and at a quarter-past six on September 18th, exactly a month to the very
minute after Grandier's death, Pere Lactance expired in excruciating
agony."

Pere Tranquille's turn came four years later. The malady which attacked
him was so extraordinary that the physicians were quite at a loss, and
forced to declare their ignorance of any remedy. His shrieks and
blasphemies were so distinctly heard in the streets, that his brother
Franciscans, fearing the effect they would have on his after-reputation,
especially in the minds of those who had seen Grandier die with words of
prayer on his lips, spread abroad the report that t