t and the Martins.

There was another silence, broken only by the stifled sobs of Derues. The
priest again crossed himself and took up the prayer.

"We beseech Thee, O beloved and only Son of God, by the merits of Thy
sacred Passion, Thy Cross and Thy Death, to deliver this Thy servant from
the pains of Hell, and to lead him to that happy place whither Thou didst
vouchsafe to lead the thief, who, with Thee, was bound upon the Cross:
Thou, who art God, living and reigning with the Father and the Holy
Ghost."

"Amen," repeated those present. Derues now took up the prayer, and his
voice mingled with the dying gasps of the sufferer.

"And there was a darkness over all the earth----

"To Thee, O Lord, we commend the soul of this Thy servant, that, being
dead to the world, he may, live to Thee: and the sins he hath committed
through the frailty of his mortal nature, do Thou in Thy most merciful
goodness, forgive and wash away. Amen."

After which all present sprinkled holy water on the body....

When the priest had retired, shown out by Madame Martin, Derues said to
her husband--

"This unfortunate young man has died without the consolation of beholding
his mother.... His last thought was for her.... There now remains the
last duty, a very painful one to accomplish, but my poor nephew imposed
it on me. A few hours ago, feeling that his end was near, he asked me,
as a last mark of friendship, not to entrust these final duties to the
hands of strangers."

While he applied himself to the necessary work in presence of the cooper,
who was much affected by the sight of such sincere and profound
affliction, Derues added, sighing--

"I shall always grieve for this dear boy. Alas! that evil living should
have caused his early death!"

When he had finished laying out the body, he threw some little packets
into the fire which he professed to have found in the youth's pockets,
telling Martin, in order to support this assertion, that they contained
drugs suitable to this disgraceful malady.

He spent the night in the room with the corpse, as he had done in the
case of Madame de Lamotte, and the next day, Sunday, he sent Martin to
the parish church of St. Louis, to arrange for a funeral of the simplest
kind; telling him to fill up the certificate in the name of Beaupre, born
at Commercy, in Lorraine. He declined himself either to go to the church
or to appear at the funeral, saying that his grief was too great.
Marti