 Lourdes by Émile Zoller Translated by Ernest Visitelli The fifth day Two pleasant hours It was eight o'clock, and Marie was so impatient that she could not keep still, but continued going to the window, as if she wished to inhale all the air of the vast expanse and the immense sky. Ah, what a pleasure to be able to run about the streets, across the squares, to go everywhere as far as she might wish, and to show how strong she was to have the pride of walking leagues in the presence of everyone, now that the Blessed Virgin had cured her. It was an irresistible impulsion, a flight of her entire being, her blood, and her heart. However, just as she was setting out, she made up her mind that her first visit with her father ought to be to the Grotto, where both of them had to thank our Lady of Lourdes. Then they would be free. They would have two long hours before them, and might walk wherever they chose, before she returned to lunch and pack up a few things at the hospital. Well, is everyone ready? repeated Monsieur de Gersin, shall we make a move? Pierre took his hat, and all three went downstairs, talking very loud, and laughing on the staircase, like boisterous schoolboys going for their holidays. They had almost reached the street, when at the doorway Madame Majesté rushed forward. She had evidently been waiting for them to go out. Ah, mademoiselle, our gentlemen, allow me to congratulate you, she said. We have heard of the extraordinary favour that has been granted you. We are so happy, so much flattered, when the Blessed Virgin is pleased to select one of our customers. The dry, harsh face was melting with amyability, and she observed the miraculously healed girl with the fondest of eyes. Then she impulsively called her husband, who was passing. Look, my dear, it's mademoiselle, it's mademoiselle. Majesté's clean, shaven face puffed out with yellow fat, assumed a happy and grateful expression. Really, mademoiselle, I cannot tell you how honoured we feel, said he. We shall never forget that your papa put up at our place. It has already excited the envy of many people. While he spoke, Madame Majesté stopped the other travellers who were going out, and with a sign summoned the families already seated in the dining room. Indeed, she would have called in the whole street if they had given her time, to show that she had in her house the miracle at which all lured had been marvelling since the previous day. People ended by collecting there, a crowd gathered little by little, while she whispered in the ear of each, look, that's her, the young party, you know, the young party who. But all at once she exclaimed, I'll go and fetch Apolline from the shop, I must show mademoiselle to Apolline. Thereupon, however, Majesté in a very dignified way restrained her. No, he said, leave Apolline, she has three ladies to serve already. Mademoiselle and these gentlemen will certainly not leave lured without making a few purchases. The little souvenirs that one carries away with one are so pleasant to look at later on, and our customers make a point of never buying elsewhere than here, in the shop which we have annexed to the hotel. I have already offered my services, added mademoiselle Majesté, and I renew them. Apolline will be so happy to show mademoiselle all our prettiest articles at prices two which are incredibly low. Oh, there are some delightful things, delightful! Marie was becoming impatient at being detained in this manner, and Pierre was suffering from the increasing curiosity which they were arousing. As for Monsieur de Garcin, he enjoyed this popularity and triumph of his daughter immensely and promised to return. Certainly, said he, we will purchase a few little knickknacks, some souvenirs for ourselves and some presents that we shall have to make, but later on when we come back. At last they escaped and descended the avenue de la Grotte. The weather was again superb after the storms of the two preceding nights. Cooled by the rain, the morning air was delicious amidst the gaiety which the bright sun shed around. A busy crowd, well pleased with life, was already hurrying along the pavements, and what pleasure it all was for Marie, to whom everything seemed new, charming, inappreciable. In the morning she had had to allow Raymond to lend her a pair of boots, for she had taken good care not to put any in her portmanteau, superstitiously fearing that they might bring her bad luck. However, Raymond's boots fitted her admirably, and she listened with childish delight to the little heels tapping merrily on the flagstones. And she did not remember having ever seen houses so white, trees so green, and passes by so happy. All her senses seemed holiday-making, endowed with a marvelously delicate sensibility. She heard music, smelt distant perfumes, savoured the air greedily, as though it was some delicious fruit. But what she considered above all so nice, so charming, was to walk along in this wise on her father's arm. She had never done so before, although she had felt the desire for years, as for one of those impossible pleasures with which people occupy their minds when invalidated. And now her dream was realized, and her heart beat with joy. She pressed against her father, and strove to walk very upright, and look very handsome, so as to do him honour. And he was quite proud, as happy as she was, showing, exhibiting her, overcome with joy at the thought that she belonged to him, that she was his blood, his flesh, his daughter, henceforth beaming with youth and health. As they were all three crossing the plateau de la Merlas, already obstructed by a band of candle-and-bouquet-sellers running after the pilgrims, Monsieur de Gelsang exclaimed, We are surely not going to the grotto empty-handed. Pierre, who was walking on the other side of Marie, himself brightened by her merry humour, thereupon stopped, and they were at once surrounded by a crowd of female hawkers, who with eager fingers thrust their goods into their faces. My beautiful young lady, my good gentleman, buy of me, of me, of me! Such was the onslaught that it became necessary to struggle in order to extricate oneself. Monsieur de Gelsang ended by purchasing the largest nose-gay he could see, a bouquet of white margarites, as round and hard as a cabbage, off a handsome, fair-haired, well-developed girl of twenty, who was extremely bold, both in look and manner. It only cost twenty soos, and he insisted on paying for it out of his own little purse, somewhat abashed meantime by the girl's unblushing effrontery. Then Pierre, in his turn, settled for the three candles which Marie had taken from an old woman, candles at two francs each, a very reasonable price, as she repeatedly said. And on being paid, the old creature, who had an angular face, covered to size, and a nose like the beak of a bird of prey, returned profusely and malifluous thanks. May our Lady of Lord bless you, my beautiful young lady, may she cure you of your complaints, you and yours. This enlivened them again, and they set out once more, all three laughing, amused like children at the idea that the good woman's wish had already been accomplished. At the grotto, Marie wished to enter at once in order to offer the bouquet and candles herself before even kneeling down. There were not many people as yet, and having gone to the end of the line, their turn came after waiting some three or four minutes. And with what enraptured glances did she then examine everything, the altar of engraved silver, the harmonium organ, the votive offerings, the candle holders streaming with wax, blazing in broad daylight. She was now inside that grotto which she had hitherto only seen from her box of misery. She breathed there, as in paradise itself, steeped rapturously in a pleasant warmth and odor which slightly oppressed her. When she had placed the tapers at the bottom of the large basket, she had raised herself on tiptoe to fix the bouquet on one of the spears of the iron railing. She imprinted a long kiss upon the rock, below the statue of the blessed virgin, at the very spot indeed which millions of lips had already polished. And the stone received a kiss of love in which she put forth all the strength of her gratitude, a kiss with which her heart melted. When she was once more outside, Marie prostrated and humbled herself in an almost endless act of thanksgiving. Her father also had knelt down near her and mingled the fervour of his gratitude with hers. But he could not remain doing the same thing for long. Little by little he became uneasy, and ended by bending down to his daughter's ear to tell her that he had a call to make which he had previously forgotten. Assuredly the best course would be for her to remain where she was, praying, and wait for him. While she completed her devotions he would hurry along and get his troublesome errand over, and then they might walk about at ease wheresoever they liked. She did not understand him, did not even hear him, but simply nodded her head, promising that she would not move. And then such tender faith again took possession of her that her eyes, fixed on the white statue of the virgin, filled with tears. When Monsieur de Gelsain had joined Pierre, who had remained a little distance off, he gave him the following explanation. My dear fellow, he said, it's a matter of conscience. I formally promised the coachman who drove us to Gavarni that I would see his master and tell him the real cause of our delay. You know whom I mean, the hairdresser on the plus du Malkadal, and besides, I want to get shaved. Pierre, who felt uneasy at this proposal, had to give way in the face of the promise that they would be back within a quarter of an hour. Only as the distance seemed long, he on his side insisted on taking a trap which was standing at the bottom of the plateau de la Merlas. It was a sort of greenish cabriolet, and its driver, a fat fellow of about thirty, with the usual basket cap on his head, was smoking a cigarette whilst waiting to be hired. Perched sideways on the seat with his knees wide apart, he drove them on with the tranquil indifference of a well-fed man who considers himself the master of the street. We will keep you, said Pierre, as he alighted, when they had reached the plus du Malkadal. Very well, very well, M. Labé, I'll wait for you. And then, leaving his lean horse in the hot sun, the driver went to chat and laugh with a strong, dishevelled servant girl who was washing a dog in the basin of the neighbouring fountain. Casabon, as it happened, was just then on the threshold of his shop, the lofty windows and pale green painting of which enlivens the dull plus, which was so deserted on weekdays. When he was not pressed with work, he delighted to triumph in this manner, standing between his two windows, which pots of pomatum and bottles of perfumery decorated with bright shades of colour. He had once recognised the gentleman. Very flattered, very much honoured. Pray walk in, I beg of you, he said. Then, at the first words which Monsieur de Gelsin said to him to excuse the man who had driven him to Gavalny, he showed himself well disposed. Of course, it was not the man's fault. He could not prevent wheels coming to pieces or storms falling, so long as the travellers did not complain, all was well. Oh, thereupon exclaimed Monsieur de Gelsin, it's a magnificent country, never to be forgotten. Well, Monsieur, as our neighbourhood pleases you, you must come and see us again. We don't ask anything better, said Casablan. And on the architect's seating himself in one of the armchairs and asking to be shaved, he began to bustle about. His assistant was still absent, running errands for the pilgrims whom he lodged, a whole family who were taking a case of chaplets, plaster virgins, and framed engravings away with them. You heard a confused tramping of feet and violent bursts of conversation coming from the first floor. All the helter-skelter of people whom the approaching departure and the packing of purchases lying hither and thither drove almost crazy. In the adjoining dining room, the door of which had remained open, two children were draining the dregs of some cups of chocolate which stood about amidst the disorder of the breakfast service. The whole of the house had been let, entirely given over, and now had come the last hours of this invasion, which compelled the hairdresser and his wife to seek refuge in the basement, in a narrow cellar where they slept on a small camp bed. While Casabon was rubbing Monsieur de Gelsin's cheeks with soap-suds, the architect questioned him. Well, are you satisfied with the season? Certainly, Monsieur, I can't complain. As you hear, my travellers are leaving today, but I'm expecting others tomorrow morning. Barely sufficient time for a sweep out. It will be the same up to October. Then as Pierre remained standing, walking about the shop and looking at the walls with an air of impatience, he turned round politely and said, Pray be seated, Monsieur LaBaye. Take a newspaper. It will not be long. The priest, having thanked him with a nod and refusing to sit down, the hairdresser whose tongue was ever reaching to talk, continued, Oh, as for myself, I am always busy. My house is renowned for the cleanliness of the beds and the excellence of the fair. Only the town is not satisfied. Ah, no. I may even say that I have never known so much discontent here. He became silent for a moment and shaved his customers' left cheek. Then again, pausing in his work, he suddenly declared with a cry, rung from him by conviction, The fathers of the grotto are playing with fire, Monsieur. That is all I have to say. From that moment, however, the vent plug was withdrawn and he talked and talked and talked again. His big eyes rolled in his long face with prominent cheekbones and sunburned complexions sprinkled with red, while the whole of his nervous little body continued on the jump, agitated by his growing exuberance of speech and gesture. He returned to his former indictment and enumerated all the many grievances that the old town had against the fathers. The hotel keepers complained. The dealers in religious fancy articles did not take half the amount they ought to have realized. And finally, the new town monopolized both the pilgrims and the cash. There was now no possibility for anyone but the keepers of the lodging houses, hotels, and shops open in the neighborhood of the grotto to make any money whatever. It was a merciless struggle, a deadly hostility increasing from day to day, the old city losing a little of its life each season and assuredly destined to disappear to be choked, assassinated by the young town. Ah, their dirty grotto! He would rather have his feet cut off than tread there. Wasn't it heart-rending that knick-knack shop which they had stuck beside it? A shameful thing at which a bishop had shown himself so indignant that it was said he had written to the pope. He, Casabon, who flattered himself with being a free-thinker and a Republican of the old days who already under the empire had voted for the opposition candidates, assuredly had the right to declare that he did not believe in the dirty grotto and that he did not care a fig for it. Look here, monsieur, he continued, I'm going to tell you a fact. My brother belongs to the municipal council and it's through him that I know it. I must tell you first of all that we now have a Republican municipal council which is much worried by the demoralization of the town. You can no longer go out at night without meeting girls in the streets, you know, those candle-hawkers. They gad about with the drivers who come here when the season commences and swell the suspicious floating population which comes no one knows whence. And I must also explain to you the position of the fathers towards the town. When they purchased the land at the grotto, they signed an agreement by which they undertook not to engage in any business there. Well, they have opened a shop in spite of their signature. He's not that an unfair rivalry, unworthy of honest people, so the new council decided on sending them a deputation to insist on the agreement being respected and enjoining them to close their shop at once. What do you think they answered, monsieur? Oh, what they have replied 20 times before. What they will always answer when they are reminded of their engagements. Very well, we consent to keep them, but we are masters at our own place and we'll close the grotto. He raised himself up, his razor in the air, and repeating his words, his eyes dilated by the enormity of the thing, he said, We'll close the grotto. Pierre, who was continuing his slow walk, suddenly stopped and said in his face, Well, the municipal council had only to answer, close it. At this cassement almost choked. The blood rushed to his face and he was beside himself and stammered out, Close the grotto, close the grotto. Certainly, as the grotto irritates you and rends your heart, as it's a cause of continual warfare, injustice and corruption, everything would be over, we should hear no more about it. That would really be a capital solution, and if the council had the power it would render you a service by forcing the fathers to carry out their threat. As Pierre went on speaking, Cazabon's anger subsided, he became very calm and somewhat pale, and in the depths of his big eyes the priest detected an expression of increasing uneasiness. Had he not gone too far in his passion against the fathers? Many ecclesiastics did not like them, perhaps this young priest was simply adored for the purpose of stirring up an agitation against them. Then, who knows, it might possibly result in the grotto being closed later on, but it was by the grotto that they all lived. If the old city screeched with rage at only picking up the crumbs, it was well pleased to secure even that windfall, and the free thinkers themselves who coined money with the pilgrims, like everyone else, held their tongues, ill at ease, and even frightened when they found people too much of their opinion with regard to the objectionable features of new lord. It was necessary to be prudent. Cazabon, thereupon, returned to Monsieur de Gersin, whose other cheeky began shaving, murmuring the while in an offhand manner, oh, what I say about the grotto is not because it troubles me much in reality, and besides everyone must live. In the dining room the children, amidst deafening shouts, had just broken one of the bowls, and Pierre glancing through the open doorway, again noticed the engravings of religious subjects, and the plaster virgin with which the hairdresser had ornamented the apartment in order to please his lodgers. And just then, too, a voice shouted from the first floor that the trunk was ready, and that they would be much obliged if the assistant would cord it as soon as he returned. However, Cazabon, in the presence of these two gentlemen whom, as a matter of fact he did not know, remained suspicious and uneasy, his brain haunted by all sorts of disquieting suppositions. He was in despair at the idea of having to let them go away without learning anything about them, especially after having exposed himself, if he had only been able to withdraw the more rabid of his biting remarks about the fathers. Accordingly, when Monsieur de Gelsain rose to wash his chin, he yielded to a desire to renew the conversation. Have you heard talk of yesterday's miracle? The town is quite upside down with it. More than twenty people have already given me an account of what occurred. Yes, it seems they obtained an extraordinary miracle. A paralytic young lady got up and dragged her invalid carriage, as far as the choir of the Basilica. Monsieur de Gelsain, who was about to sit down after wiping himself, gave a complacent laugh. That young lady is my daughter, he said. Thereupon, under this sudden and fortunate flash of enlightenment, Cazabon became all smiles. He felt reassured and combed Monsieur de Gelsain's hair with a masterly touch, amid the returning exuberance of speech and gesture. Ah, Monsieur, I congratulate you. I am flattered at having you in my hands. Since the young lady your daughter is cured, your father's heart is at ease. Am I not right? And he also found a few pleasant words for Pierre. Then when he had decided to let them go, he looked at the priest with an air of conviction and remarked, like a sensible man, desirous of coming to a conclusion on the subject of miracles. There are some, Monsieur Labé, which are good fortunes for everybody. From time to time we require one of that description. Outside, Monsieur de Gelsain had to go and fetch the coachman, who was still laughing with the servant girl, while her dog, dripping with water, was shaking itself in the sun. In five minutes the trap brought them back to the bottom of the plateau de la Merlas. The trip had taken a good half hour. Pierre wanted to keep the conveyance with the idea of showing Marie the town without giving her too much fatigue. So, while the father ran to the grotto to fetch his daughter, he waited there beneath the trees. The coachman at once engaged in conversation with the priest. He had lit another cigarette and showed himself very familiar. He came from a village in the environs of Toulouse, and did not complain, for he earned good round sums each day at Lourdes. You fed well there, said he, you amused yourself. It was what you might call a good neighborhood. He said these things with the abandon of a man who was not troubled with religious scruples, but he had did not forget the respect which he owed to an ecclesiastic. At last, from the top of his box where he remained half lying down, dangling one of his legs, he allowed this remark to fall slowly from his lips. Ah, yes, Monsieur Labé, Lourdes has caught on well, but the question is whether it will all last long. Pierre, who was very much struck by the remark, was pondering on its involuntary profundity when Monsieur de Gersaint reappeared, bringing Marie with him. He had found her kneeling on the same spot, in the same act of faith and thankfulness, at the feet of the blessed virgin. And it seemed as if she had brought all the brilliant light of the grotto away in her eyes, so vividly did they sparkle with divine joy at her cure. She would not consent to keep the trap. No, no, she preferred to go on foot. She did not care about seeing the town so long as she might for another hour continue walking on her father's arm through the gardens, the streets, the squares, anywhere they pleased. And when Pierre had paid the driver, it was she who turned into a path of the Esplanade garden, delighted at being able to saunter in this wise beside the turf and the flowerbeds under the great trees. The grass, the leaves, the shady solitary walks where you heard the everlasting rippling of the garb were so sweet and fresh. But afterwards she wished to return by way of the streets among the crowd that she might find the agitation, noise and life, the need of which possessed her whole being. In the rue Saint-Joseph, on perceiving the panorama where the former grotto was depicted, with Bernadette kneeling down before it on the day of the miracle of the candle, the idea occurred to Pierre to go in. Marie became as happy as a child, and even Monsieur de Gersin was full of innocent delight, especially when he noticed that among the batch of pilgrims who dived at the same time as themselves into the depths of the obscure corridor, several recognized in his daughter the girl so miraculously healed the day before, who was already famous and whose name flew from mouth to mouth. Up above, on the circular platform, when they came out into the diffuse light filtering through a vellum, there was a sort of ovation around Marie. Soft whispers, beatifical glances, a rapture of delight in seeing, following and touching her. Now glory had come, she would be loved in that way wherever she went, and it was not until the showman who gave the explanations had placed himself at the head of the little party of visitors, and begun to walk round, relating the incident depicted on the huge circular canvas, nearly five hundred feet in length, that she was in some measure forgotten. The painting represented the seventeenth apparition of the blessed virgin to Bernadette, on the day when, kneeling before the grotto during her vision, she had heedlessly left her hand on the flame of her candle without burning it. The whole of the old primitive landscape of the grotto was shown, the whole scene was set out with all its historical personages, the doctor verifying the miracle watch in hand, the mayor, the commissary of police and the public prosecutor, whose names the showman gave out amidst the amazement of the public following him. Then, by an unconscious transition of ideas, Pierre recalled the remark which the driver of the Cabriolet had made a short time previously. Lord has caught on well, but the question is whether it will all last long. That, in fact, was the question, how many venerated sanctuaries had thus been built already, at the bidding of innocent chosen children to whom the blessed virgin had shown herself. It was always the same story beginning afresh, an apparition, a persecuted shepherdess who was called a liar, next the covert propulsion of human misery hungering after illusion, then propaganda and the triumph of the sanctuary shining like a star, and afterwards decline and oblivion when the ecstatic dream of another visionary gave birth to another sanctuary elsewhere. It seemed as if the power of illusion wore away, that it was necessary in the course of centuries to displace it, set it amidst new scenery under fresh circumstances in order to renew its force. La Salette had dethroned the old wooden and stone virgins that had healed. Lord had just dethroned La Salette, pending the time when it would be dethroned itself by Our Lady of Tomorrow, she who will show her sweet consoling features to some pure child as yet unborn. Only if Lord had met with such rapid, such prodigious fortune, it assuredly owed it to the little sincere soul, the delightful charm of Bernadette. Here there was no deceit, no falsehood, merely the blossoming of suffering, a delicate sick child who brought to the afflicted multitude her dream of justice and equality in the miraculous. She was merely eternal hope, eternal consolation. Besides, all historical and social circumstances seem to have combined to increase the need of this mystical flight at the close of a terrible century of positivist inquiry. And that was perhaps the reason why Lord would still long endure in its triumph, before becoming a mere legend, one of those dead religions whose powerful perfume has evaporated. Ah, that ancient Lord, that city of peace and belief, the only possible cradle where the legend could come into being, how easily Pierre conjured it up before him, whilst walking round the vast canvas of the panorama. That canvas said everything, it was the best lesson of things that could be seen. The monotonous explanations of the showman were not heard, the landscape spoke for itself. First of all, there was the grotto, the rocky hollow beside the garve, a savage spot suitable for reverie. Bushy slopes and heaps of fallen stone without a path among them, and nothing yet in the way of ornamentation, no monumental key, no garden paths winding among trimly cut shrubs, no grotto set in order, deformed, enclosed with iron railings. Above all, no shop for the sale of religious articles, that simony shop which was the scandal of all pious souls. The virgin could not have selected a more solitary and charming nook wherein to show herself to the chosen one of her heart, the poor young girl who came wither still possessed by the dream of her painful nights, even whilst gathering dead wood. And on the opposite side of the garve, behind the rock of the castle was old lured, confident of the sleep. Another age was then conjured up, a small town with narrow pebble-paved streets, black houses with marble dressings and an antique semi-spanish church full of old carvings and peopled with visions of gold and painted flesh. Communication with other places was only kept up by the Bagnere and Côtre d'Hiligences, which twice a day forwarded the La Paca to climb the steep causeway of the rue Basse. The spirit of the century had not breathed on those peaceful roofs sheltering a belated population which had remained childish, enclosed within the narrow limits of strict religious discipline. There was no debauchery, a slow antique commerce sufficed for daily life, a poor life whose hardships were the safeguards of morality. And Pierre had never better understood how Bernadette, born in that land of faith and honesty, had flowered like a natural rose budding on the eglentines of the road. It's all the same, very curious, observed Monsieur de Garcin when they found themselves in the street again. I'm not at all sorry I saw it. Marie was also laughing with pleasure. One would almost think oneself there, isn't it so, Father? At times it seems as if the people were going to move. And how charming Bernadette looks on her knees in ecstasy, while the candle-flame licks her fingers without burning them. Let us see, said the architect. We have only an hour left, so we must think of making our purchases if we wish to buy anything. Shall we take a look at the shops? We certainly promised Majesté to give him the preference, but that does not prevent us from making a few inquiries. Eh, Pierre, what do you say? Oh, certainly, as you like, answered the priest. Besides, it will give us a walk. And he thereupon followed the young girl and her father, who returned to the Plateau de la Merlasse. Since he had quitted the panorama, he felt as though he no longer knew where he was. It seemed to him as if he had all at once been transported from one to another town, parted by centuries. He had left the solitude, the slumbering peacefulness of old Lord, which the dead light of the vellum had increased, to fall at last into new Lord, sparkling with brightness and noisy with the crowd. Ten o'clock had just struck, and extraordinary animation reigned on the footways, where an entire people was hastening to complete its purchases before breakfast, so that it might have nothing but its departure to think of afterwards. The thousands of pilgrims of the national pilgrimage streamed along the thoroughfares and besieged the shops in a final scramble. You would have taken the cries, the jostling, and the sudden rushes, for those at some fare, just breaking up amidst a ceaseless roll of vehicles. Many, providing themselves with provisions for the journey, cleared the open-air stalls where bread and slices of sausages and ham were sold. Others purchased fruit and wine. Baskets were filled with bottles and greasy parcels until they almost burst. A hawker who was wheeling some cheeses about on a small truck saw his goods carried off as if swept away by the wind. But what the crowd more particularly purchased were religious articles, and those hawkers whose barrows were loaded with statuettes and sacred engravings were reaping golden gains. The customers at the shops stood in strings on the pavement. The women were belted with immense chaplets, had blessed virgins tucked under their arms and were provided with cans which they meant to fill at the miraculous spring. Carried in the hand or slung from the shoulder, some of them quite plain and others daubed over with a lady of lured in blue paint, these cans held from one to ten quarts a piece. And shining with all the brightness of new tin, clashing two at times with the sharp jingle of stupans, they added a gay note to the aspect of the noisy multitude. And the fever of dealing, the pleasure of spending one's money, of returning home with one's pockets crammed with photographs and medals, lit up all faces with a holiday expression, transforming the radiant gathering into a fairfield crowd with appetites either beyond control or satisfied. On the plateau de la Merlas, Monsieur de Gersaint for a moment felt tempted to enter one of the finest and most patronized shops on the board over which there were these words in large letters. Soubirous, brother of Bernadette. Eh, what if we were to make our purchases there? It would be more appropriate, more interesting to remember. However, he passed on repeating that they must see everything first of all. Pierre had looked at the shop kept by Bernadette's brother with a heavy heart. It grieved him to find the brother selling the blessed virgin whom the sister had beheld. However, it was necessary to live and he had reason to believe that, beside the triumphant Basilica resplendent with gold, the visionary's relatives were not making a fortune, the competition being so terrible. If on the one hand the pilgrims left millions behind them at Lourdes, on the other there were more than two hundred dealers in religious articles to say nothing of the hotel and lodging-housekeepers to whom the largest part of the spoils fell, and thus the gain so eagerly disputed ended by being moderate enough after all. Along the plateau on the right and left of the repository kept by Bernadette's brother other shops appeared, an uninterrupted row of them, pressing one against the other, each occupying a division of a wooden structure, a sort of gallery erected by the town, which derived from its some sixty thousand francs, two thousand four hundred pounds, a year. It formed a regular bazaar of open stalls, encroaching on the pavement so as to tempt people to stop as they passed along. For more than three hundred yards no other trade was plied, a river of chaplets, medals and statuettes streamed without end behind the windows, and in enormous letters on the boards above appeared the venerated names of Saint Roche, Saint Joseph, Jerusalem, the Immaculate Virgin, the Sacred Heart of Mary, all the names in paradise that were most likely to touch and attract customers. Really, said Monsieur de Gelsin, I think it's the same thing all over the place. Let us go anywhere. He himself had had enough of it. This interminable display was quite exhausting him. But as you promised to make the purchases at Majestès, said Marie, who was not in the least tired, the best thing will be to go back. That's it. Let's return to Majestès' place. But the rows of shops began again in the avenue de la Grotte. They swarmed on both sides, and among them here were jewelers, drapers, and umbrella makers who also dealt in religious articles. There was even a confectioner who sold boxes of pastiles à l'eau de l'ourde with a figure of the Virgin on the cover. A photographer's windows were crammed with views of the Grotto and the Basilica, and portraits of bishops and reverent fathers of all orders mixed up with views of famous sites in the neighbouring mountains. A bookseller displayed the last Catholic publications, volumes bearing devout titles, and among them the innumerable works published on l'eau de l'eau during the last 20 years, some of which had had a wonderful success, which was still fresh in memory. In this broad, populist thoroughfare, the crowds streamed along in more open order. Their cans jingled, everyone was in high spirits amid the bright sun rays which enfiladed the road from one end to the other, and it seemed as if there would never be a finish to the statuettes, the medals and the chaplets. One display followed another, and indeed there were miles of them running through the streets of the entire town, which was ever the same bazaar selling the same articles. In front of the hotel of the apparitions, Monsieur de Galsin again hesitated. Then it's decided we are going to make our purchases there, he asked. Certainly, said Marie, see what a beautiful shop it is. And she was the first to enter the establishment, which was in fact one of the largest in the street occupying the ground floor of the hotel on the left hand. Monsieur de Galsin and Pierre followed her. Apolline, the niece of the Majestés, who was in charge of the place was standing on a stool taking some holy water vases from a top shelf to show them to a young man, an elegant bearer, wearing beautiful yellow gaiters. She was laughing with the cooing sound of a dove and looked charming with her thick black hair and her superb eyes, set in a somewhat square face which had a straight forehead, chubby cheeks and full red lips. Jumping lightly to the ground, she exclaimed, Then you don't think that this pattern would please Madame, your aunt? No, no, answered the bearer as he went off. Obtain the other pattern. I shall not leave until tomorrow and will come back. When Apolline learned that Marie was the young person visited by the miracle of whom Madame Majestés had been talking ever since the previous day, she became extremely attentive. She looked at her with her merry smile, in which there was a dash of surprise and covert incredulity. However, like the clever saleswoman that she was, she was profuse in complimentary remarks. Ah Mademoiselle, I shall be so happy to sell to you. Your miracle is so beautiful. Look, the whole shop is at your disposal. We have the largest choice. Marie was ill at ease. Thank you, she replied. You are very good. But we have only come to buy a few small things. If you will allow us, said Monsieur de Gersin, we will choose ourselves. Very well, that's it, Monsieur. Afterwards we will see. And as some other customers now came in, Apolline forgot them, returned to her duties as a pretty saleswoman with caressing words and seductive glances, especially for the gentlemen whom she never allowed to leave until they had their pockets full of purchases. Monsieur de Gersin had only two francs left of the Louis which Blanche, his eldest daughter, had slipped into his hand when he was leaving as pocket money. And so he did not dare to make any large selection. But Pierre declared that they would cause him great pain if they did not allow him to offer them the few things which they would like to take away with them from Lorde. It was therefore understood that they would first of all choose a present for Blanche and then Marie and her father should select the souvenirs that pleased them best. Don't let us hurry, replied Monsieur de Gersin who had become very gay. Come Marie, have a good look. What would be most likely to please Blanche? All three looked, searched and rummaged. But their indecision increased as they went from one object to another. With its counters, showcases and nests of drawers, furnishing its from top to bottom, the spacious shop was a sea of endless billows overflowing with all the religious knickknacks imaginable. There were the chaplets, skeins of chaplets hanging along the walls, and heaps of chaplets lying in the drawers, from humble ones costing twenty sous a dozen to those of sweet-scented wood, agate and lapis lazuli with chains of gold or silver. And some of them of immense length made to go twice round the naked waist had carved beads as large as walnuts separated by death's heads. Then there were the medals, a shower of medals, boxes full of medals of all sizes, of all metals, the cheapest and the most precious. They bore different inscriptions, they represented the basilica, the grotto, or the immaculate conception. They were engraved, repoussée or enameled, executed with care or made by the gross according to the price. And next there were the blessed virgins great and small in zinc, wood, ivory and especially plaster. Some entirely white, others tinted in bright colors in accordance with the description given by Bernadette. The amiable and smiling face, the extremely long veil, the blue sash, and the golden roses on the feet, there being however some slight modification in each model so as to guarantee the copyright. And there was another flood of other religious objects, a hundred varieties of scapularies, a thousand different sorts of sacred pictures, fine engravings, large chromolithographs in glaring colors, submerged beneath a mass of smaller pictures which were colored, gilded, varnished, decorated with bouquets of flowers and bordered with lace paper. And there was also jewelry, rings, brooches and bracelets loaded with stars and crosses and ornamented with saintly figures. Finally there was the Paris article which rose above and submerged all the rest. Pencil holders, purses, cigar holders, paper weights, paper knives, even snuff boxes and innumerable other objects on which the Basilica, Grotto and Blessed Virgin ever and ever appeared, reproduced in every way by every process that is known. Heaped together pel-melle in one of the cases reserved to articles at 50 centimes apiece were napkin rings, egg cups and wooden pipes on which was carved the beaming apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. Little by little, Monsieur de Gersin with the annoyance of a man who prides himself on being an artist became disgusted and quite sad. But all this is frightful, frightful, he repeated at every new article he took up to look at. Then he relieved himself by reminding Pierre of the ruinous attempt which he had made to improve the artistic quality of religious prints. The remains of his fortune had been lost in that attempt and the thought made him all the more angry in presence of the wretched productions with which the shop was crowned. Had anyone ever seen things of such idiotic, pretentious, complex ugliness? The vulgarity of the ideas and the silliness of the expressions portrayed rivals the commonplace character of the composition. You were reminded of fashion plates, the covers of confectionery boxes and the waxed dolls heads that revolve in the hairdresser's windows. It was an art of false prettiness, painfully childish, with no really human touch in it, no tone and no sincerity. And the architect who was wound up could not stop but went on to express his disgust with the buildings of New Lord, the pitiable disfigurement of the grotto, the colossal monstrosity of the inclined ways, the disastrous lack of symmetry in the Church of the Rosary and the Basilica, the former looking too heavy like a corn market, whilst the latter had an anemical structural leanness with no kind of style but the mongrel. Ah, one must really be very fond of God, he at last concluded, to have courage enough to come and adore him amidst such horrors. They have failed in everything, spoiled everything, as though out of pleasure. Not one of them has experienced that moment of true feeling, of real naturalness and sincere faith which gives birth to masterpieces. They are all clever people but all plagiarists, not one has given his mind and being to the undertaking. And what must they not require then to inspire them since they have failed to produce anything grand even in this land of miracles? Pierre did not reply but he was very much struck by these reflections which at last gave him an explanation of a feeling of discomfort that he had experienced ever since his arrival at Lord. This discomfort arose from the difference between the modern surroundings and the faith of past ages which it was sought to resuscitate. He thought of the old cathedrals where quivered that faith of nations. He picked at the former attributes of worship, the images, the goldsmith's work, the saints in wooden stone, all of admirable power and beauty of expression. The fact was that in those ancient times the workmen had been true believers, had given their whole souls and bodies and all the candor of their feelings to their productions just as Monsieur de Gelsain said. But nowadays architects built churches with the same practical tranquillity as they erected five-story houses, precisely as the religious articles, the chaplets, the medals and the statuettes were manufactured by the gross in the populous quarters of Paris by merry-making workmen who did not even follow their religion. And thus what slop work, what toy makers iron mongers stuff it all was, of a prettiness fit to make you cry, a silly sentimentality fit to make your heart turn with disgust. Lord was inundated, all to such a point as to quite upset persons with any delicacy of taste who happened to stray through its streets. It clashed jarringly with the attempted resuscitation of the legends, ceremonies and processions of dead ages. And all at once it occurred to Pierre that the social and historical condemnation of Lord lay in this, that faith is forever dead among a people when it no longer introduces it into the churches it builds or the chaplets it manufactures. However Marie had continued examining the shelves with the impatience of a child hesitating and finding nothing which seemed to her worthy of the great dream of ecstasy which she would ever keep with her. Father, she said, it is getting late you must take me back to the hospital and to make up my mind look I will give Blanche this medal with the silver chain. After all it's the most simple and prettiest thing here she will wear it it will make her a little piece of jewellery. As for myself I will take this statuette of our Lady of Lord this small one which is rather prettily painted I shall place it in my room and surround it with fresh flowers it will be very nice will it not? Monsieur de Gersin approved of her idea and then busied himself with his own choice oh dear oh dear how embarrassed I am said he he was examining some ivory handled pen holders capped with pee-like balls in which were microscopic photographs and while bringing one of the little holes to his eye to look in it he raised an exclamation of mingled surprise and pleasure Hello Here's the silk to Gavalny Ah it's prodigious everything is there How can that colossal panorama have been gotten to so small a space? Come I'll take this pen holder it's curious and will remind me of my excursion Pierre had simply chosen a portrait of Bernadette the large photograph which represents her on her knees in a black gown with a handkerchief tied over her hair and which is said to be the only one in existence taken from life he hastened to pay and they were all three on the point of leaving when Madame Magistère entered protested and positively insisted on making Marie a little present saying that it would bring her establishment good fortune I beg of you mademoiselle take a scapulary said she look among those there the blessed virgin who chose you will repay me and good luck she raised her voice and made so much fuss that the purchasers filling the shop were interested and began gazing at the girl with envious eyes it was popularity bursting out again around her a popularity which ended even by reaching the street when the landlady went to the threshold of the shop making signs to the tradespeople opposite and putting all the neighborhood in a flutter let us go repeated Marie feeling more and more uncomfortable but her father on noticing a priest come in detained her ah Monsieur la Bédérmoise was in fact the handsome abbey clad in a casque of fine cloth emitting a pleasant odor and with an expression of soft gaiety on his fresh colored face he had not noticed his companion of the previous day but had gone straight to Apolline and taken her on one side and Pierre overheard him saying in a subdued tone why didn't you bring me my three dozen chaplets this morning Apolline again began laughing with the cooing notes of a dove and looked at him sideways roguishly without answering they are for my little penitents at Toulouse I wanted to place them at the bottom of my trunk and you offered to help me pack my linen she continued laughing and her pretty eyes sparkled however I shall not leave before tomorrow bring them me tonight will you not when you're at liberty it's at the end of the street at Duchens thereupon with a slight movement of her red lips and in a somewhat bantering way which left him in doubt as to whether she would keep her promise she replied certainly Monsieur la Bédérmoise I will go they were now interrupted by Monsieur de Gersin who came forward to shake the priest's hand and the two men at once began talking again of the silk gavarnie they had had a delightful trip a most pleasant time which they would never forget then they enjoyed a laugh at the expense of their two companions ecclesiastics of slender means good-natured fellows who had much amused them and the architect ended by reminding his new friends that he had kindly promised to induce a personage at Toulouse who was 10 times a millionaire to interest himself in his studies on navigable balloons a first advance of 100 000 francs would be sufficient he said you can rely on me answered Abédérmoise you will not have prayed to the blessed virgin in vain however Pierre who had kept Bernadette's portrait in his hand had just then been struck by the extraordinary likeness between Apolline and the visionary it was the same rather massive face the same full thick mouth and the same magnificent eyes and he recollected that Madame Majesté had already pointed out to him this striking resemblance which was all the more peculiar as Apolline had passed through a similar poverty-stricken childhood at Barthres before her aunt had taken her with her to assist in keeping the shop Bernadette Apolline what a strange association what an unexpected reincarnation at 30 years distance and all at once with this Apolline who was so flightily merry and careless and in regard to whom there were so many odd rumors knew Lord Rose before his eyes the coachmen the candle girls the persons who let rooms and way-laid tenants at the railway station the hundreds of furnished houses with discreet little lodgings the crowd of free priests the lady-hospitalers and the simple passers-by who came there to satisfy their appetites then too there was the trading mania excited by the shower of millions the entire town given up to Lucca the shops transforming the streets into bazaars which devoured one another the hotels living gluttonously on the pilgrims even to the blue sisters who kept a tabledot and the fathers of the grotto who coined money with their god what a sad and frightful course of events the vision of pure Bel Nadette inflaming multitudes making rush to the illusion of happiness bringing a river of gold to the town and from that moment rotting everything the breath of superstition had sufficed to make humanity flock thither to attract abundance of money and to corrupt this honest corner of the earth forever where the candid lily had formally bloomed there now grew the carnal Rose in the new loam of cupidity and enjoyment Bethlehem had become Sodom since an innocent child had seen the virgin hey what did i tell you exclaimed madame majesté perceiving that Pierre was comparing her niece with the portrait Apolini's Bel Nadette all over the young girl approached with her amiable smile flattered at first by the comparison let's see let's see said Abédé Hermoyles with an air of lively interest he took the photograph in his turn compared it with the girl and then exclaimed in amazement it's wonderful the same features i had not noticed it before really i'm delighted still i fancy she had a larger nose Apolini ended by remarking the Abédé then raised an exclamation of irresistible admiration oh you are prettier much prettier that's evident but that does not matter anyone would take you for two sisters Pierre could not refrain from laughing he thought the remark so peculiar ah poor Bel Nadette was absolutely dead and she had no sister she could not have been born again it would have been impossible for her to exist in the region of crowded life and passion which she had made at length Marie went off leaning on her father's arm and it was agreed that they would both call and fetch her at the hospital to go to the station together more than 50 people were awaiting her in the street in a state of ecstasy they bowed to her and followed her and one woman even made her infirm child whom she was bringing back from the grotto touch her gown end of section 22 section 23 of Lourdes this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please contact LibriVox.org Lourdes by Émile Zola translated by Ernest Visitelli the fifth day three departure at half past two o'clock the white train which was to leave Lourdes at 340 was already in the station alongside the second platform for three days it had been waiting on a siding in the same state as when it had come from Paris and since it had been run into the station again white flags had been waving from the foremost and hindmost of its carriages by way of preventing any mistakes on the part of the pilgrims whose in training was usually a very long and troublesome affair moreover all the 14 trains of the pilgrimage were timed to leave that day the green train had started off at 10 o'clock followed by the pink and the yellow train and the others the orange the gray and the blue would start in turn after the white train had taken its departure it was indeed another terrible day's work for the station staff amidst a tumult and a scramble which altogether distracted them however the departure of the white train was always the event of the day which provoked most interest and emotion for it took away with it all the more afflicted patients amongst whom were naturally those loved by the Virgin and chosen by her for the miraculous cures accordingly a large serried crowd was collected under the roofing of the spacious platform a hundred yards in length where all the benches were already covered with waiting pilgrims and their parcels in the refreshment room at one end of the buildings men were drinking beer and women ordering lemonade at the little tables which had been taken by assault whilst at the other end bearers stood on guard at the goods entrance so as to keep the way clear for the speedy passage of the patients who would soon be arriving and all along the broad platform there was incessant coming and going poor people rushing hither and thither in bewilderment priests trotting along to render assistance gentlemen in frock coats looking on with quiet inquisitiveness indeed all the jumbling and jostling of the most mixed most variegated throng ever elbowed in a railway station at three o'clock however the sick had not yet reached the station and baron swere was in despair his anxiety arising from the dearth of horses for a number of unexpected tourists had arrived at lured that morning and hired conveyances for barrage, coutrer and gavarni at last however the baron espied berthot and gerard arriving in all haste after scouring the town and when he had rushed up to them they soon pacified him by announcing that things were going splendidly they had been able to procure the needful animals and the removal of the patients from the hospital was now being carried out under the most favorable circumstances squads of bearers with their stretches and little carts were already in the station yard watching for the arrival of the vans, brakes and other vehicles which had been recruited a reserve supply of mattresses and cushions was more over heaped up beside a lamp post nevertheless just as the first patients arrived baron swere again lost his head whilst berthot and gerard hastened to the platform from which the train would start there they began to super intend matters and gave orders amidst an increasing scramble father full card was on this platform walking up and down alongside the train on father massias's arm seeing dr bonomi approach he stopped short to speak to him ah doctor said he i am pleased to see you father massias who was about to leave us was again telling me just now of the extraordinary favor granted by the blessed virgin to that interesting young person mademoiselle marie de gersin there has not been such a brilliant miracle for years it is signal good fortune for us a blessing which should render our labors fruitful all christendom will be illumined comforted enriched by it he was radiant with pleasure and forthwith the doctor with his clean shave and face heavy peaceful features and usually tired eyes also began to exalt yes your reverence it is prodigious prodigious i shall write a pamphlet about it never was cure produced by supernatural means in a more authentic manner what a stir it will create then as they had begun walking to and fro again all three together he noticed that father full card was dragging his leg with increasing difficulty leaning heavily the while on his companion's arm is your attack of gout worse your reverence he inquired you seem to be suffering a great deal oh don't speak of it i wasn't able to close my eyes all night it is very annoying that this attack should have come on me the very day of my arrival here it might as well have waited but there is nothing to be done so don't let us talk of it anymore i am at all events very pleased with this year's result ah yes yes indeed in his turn said father massias in a voice which quivered with fervour we may all feel proud and go away with our hearts full of enthusiasm and gratitude how many prodigies there have been in addition to the healing of that young woman you spoke of there is no counting all the miracles deaf women and dumb women have recovered their faculties faces disfigured by source have become as smooth as the hand moribund consumptives have come to life again and eaten and danced it is not a train of sufferers but a train of resurrection a train of glory that i am about to take back to paris he had ceased to see the ailing creatures around him and in the blindness of his faith was soaring triumphantly then alongside the carriages whose compartments were beginning to fill they all three continued their slow saunter smiling at the pilgrims who bowed to them and at times again stopping to address a kind word to some mournful woman who pale and shivering passed by upon a stretcher they boldly declared that she was looking much better and would assuredly soon get well however the station master who was incessantly bustling about passed by calling in a shrill voice don't block up the platform please don't block up the platform and on bell tour pointing out to him that it was at all events necessary to deposit the stretches on the platform before hoisting the patients into the carriages he became quite angry but come come is it reasonable he asked look at that little hand cut which has been left on the rails over yonder i expect the train to to lose in a few minutes do you want your people to be crushed to death then he went off at a run to instruct some porters to keep the bewildered flock of pilgrims away from the rails many of them old and simple people did not even recognize the color of their train and this was the reason why one and all wore cards of some particular hue hanging from their necks so that they might be led and entrained like marked cattle and what a constant state of excitement it was with the starting of these 14 special trains in addition to all the ordinary traffic in which no change had been made pierr arrived valise in hand and found some difficulty in reaching the platform he was alone for marie had expressed an ardent desire to kneel once more at the grotto so that her soul might burn with gratitude before the blessed virgin until the last moment and so he had left monsieur de garçon to conduct her thither whilst he himself settled the hotel bill moreover he had made them promise that they would take a fly to the station and they would certainly arrive within a quarter of an hour meantime his idea was to seek their carriage and there rid himself of his valise this however was not an easy task and he only recognized the carriage eventually by the placard which had been swinging from it in the sunlight and the storms during the last three days a square of pasteboard bearing the names of madame de jonquière and sisters here saint and claire des anges there could be no mistake and pierr again pictured the compartments full of his traveling companions some cushions already marked monsieur sabatier's corner and on the seat where marie had experienced such suffering he still found some scratches caused by the ironwork of her box then having deposited his valise in his own place he remained on the platform waiting and looking around him with a slight feeling of surprise at not perceiving dr chassegne who had promised to come and embrace him before the train started now that marie was well again pierr had laid his bearer straps aside and merely wore the red cross of the pilgrimage on his cassock the station of which he had caught but a glimpse in the livid dawn amidst the anguish of the terrible morning of their arrival now surprised him by its spacious platforms its broad exits and its clear gaiety he could not see the mountains but some verdant slopes rose up on the other side in front of the waiting rooms and that afternoon the weather was delightfully mild the sky of a milky whiteness with light fleecy clouds veiling the sun whence there fell a broad diffuse light like a necrious pearly dust maidens weather as country foca won't to say the big clock had just struck three and pierr was looking at it when he saw madame des agneaux and madame volmaire arrive followed by madame de jonquière and her daughter these ladies who had driven from the hospital in a landau at once began looking for their carriage and it was remonde who first recognized the first class compartment in which she had traveled from paris mama mama here here it is she called stay a little while with us you have plenty of time to install yourself among your patients since they haven't yet arrived pierr now again found himself face to face with madame volmaire and their glances met however he gave no sign of recognition and on her side there was but a slight sudden drooping of the eyelids she had again assumed the air of a languid indolent black robed woman who modestly shrinks back well pleased to escape notice her brazier like eyes no longer glowed it was only at long intervals that they kindled into a spark beneath the veil of indifference the moiré like shade which dimmed them oh it was a fearful sick headache she was repeating to madame des agneaux and you can see i've hardly recovered the use of my poor head yet it's the journey which brings it on it's the same thing every year however berthaud and gerard who had just perceived the ladies were hurrying up to them that morning they had presented themselves at the hospital of our lady of dolour and madame de joncaire had received them in a little office near the linen room thereupon apologizing with smiling affability for making his request amidst such a hurly burly berthaud had solicited the hand of mademoiselle remonde for his cousin gerard they had once felt themselves at ease the mother with some show of emotion saying that lord would bring the young couple good luck and so the marriage was arranged in a few words amidst general satisfaction a meeting was even appointed for the 15th of september at the château of bernaville yur carne an estate belonging to remonde's uncle the diplomatist whom berthaud knew and to whom he promised to introduce gerard then remonde was summoned and blushed with pleasure as she placed her little hand in those of her betrothed finding her now upon the platform the latter began paying her every attention and asking would you like some pillows for the night don't make any ceremony about it i can give you plenty both for yourself and for these ladies who are accompanying you however remonde gayly refused the offer no no said she we are not so delicate keep them for the poor sufferers all the ladies were now talking together madame de jonquière declared that she was so tired so tired that she no longer felt alive and yet she displayed great happiness her eyes smiling as she glanced at her daughter and the young man she was engaged to but neither berthaud nor gerard could remain there they had their duties to perform and accordingly took their leave after reminding madame de jonquière and remonde of the appointed meeting it was understood was it not on september 15 at the shutter of bernaville yes yes it was understood and then came fresh miles and handjakes while the eyes of the newly engaged couple caressing delighted eyes added all that they dared not say allowed in the midst of such a throng what exclaimed little madame designeaux you will go to bernaville on the 15th but if we stay at truville till the 20th as my husband wishes to do we will go to see you and then turning towards madame volmar who stood there silent she added you ought to come as well my dear it would be so nice to meet there all together but with a slow wave of the hand and an air of weary indifference madame volmar answered oh my holiday is all over i am going home just then her eyes again met those of pierre who had remained standing near the party and he fancied that she became confused whilst an expression of indescribable suffering passed over her lifeless face the sisters of the assumption were now arriving the ladies joined them in front of the canteen van verand who had come with the sisters from the hospital got into the van and then helped sister saint françois to mount upon the somewhat high footboard then he remained standing on the threshold of the van transformed into a kitchen and containing all sorts of supplies for the journey such as bread broth milk and chocolate while sister ear saint and sister claire des anges who were still on the platform passed him his little medicine chest and some small articles of luggage you were sure you have everything sister ear saint asked him all right well now you only have to go and lie down in your corner and get to sleep since you complain that your services are not utilized verand began to laugh softly i shall help sister saint françois said he i shall light the oil stove wash the crockery carry the cups of broth and milk to the patients whenever we stop according to the timetable hanging yonder and if all the same you should require a doctor you will please come to fetch me sister ear saint had also begun to laugh but we no longer require a doctor since all our patients are cured she replied and fixing her eyes on his with her calm sisterly air she added goodbye monsieur ferrand he smiled again whilst a feeling of deep emotion brought moisture to his eyes the tremulous accents of his voice expressed his conviction that he would never be able to forget this journey his joy at having seen her again and the souvenir of divine and eternal affection which he was taking away with him goodbye sister said he then madame de jonquière talked of going to her carriage with sister claire des anges and sister ear saint but the latter assured her that there was no hurry since the sick pilgrims were as yet scarcely arriving she left her therefore taking the other sister with her and promising to see to everything moreover she even insisted on reading the superintendent of her little bag saying that she would find it on her seat when it was time for her to come thus the ladies continued walking and chatting gaily on the broad platform where the atmosphere was so pleasant pierre however his eyes fixed upon the big clock watched the minutes hasten by on the dial and began to feel surprised at not seeing marie arrive with her father it was to be hoped that monsieur de guercin would not lose himself on the road the young priest was still watching when to his surprise he caught sight of monsieur vigneron in a state of perfect exasperation pushing his wife and little gustar furiously before him oh monsieur labé he exclaimed tell me where our carriage is helped me to put our luggage and this child in it i'm at my wit's end they have made me altogether lose my temper then on reaching the second class compartment he caught hold of pierre's hands just as the young man was about to place little gustar inside and quite an outburst followed could you believe it they insist on my starting they tell me that my return ticket will not be available if i wait here till tomorrow it was of no use my telling them about the accident as it is it's by no means pleasant to have to stay with that corpse watch over it see it put in a coffin and remove it tomorrow within the regulation time but they pretend that it doesn't concern them that they already make large enough reductions on the pilgrimage tickets and that they can't enter into any questions of people dying madame vigneron stood all of a tremble listening to him whilst gustar forgotten staggering on his crutch with fatigue raised his poor inquisitive suffering face but at all events continued the irate father as i told them it's a case of compulsion what do they expect me to do with that corpse i can't take it under my arm and bring it them today like an article of luggage and therefore absolutely obliged to remain behind but no oh how many stupid and wicked people there are have you spoken to the station master asked pierre the station master oh he's somewhere about in the midst of the scramble they were never able to find him how could you have anything done properly in such a bear garden still i mean to route him out and give him a bit of my mind then perceiving his wife standing beside him motionless glued as it were to the platform he cried what are you doing there get in so that we may pass you the youngster and the parcels with these words he pushed her in and threw the parcels after her whilst the young priest took gustar in his arms the poor little fellow who was as light as a bird seemingly thinner than before consumed by sores and so full of pain raised a faint cry oh my dear child have i hurt you asked pierre no no monsieur laby but i've been moved about so much today and i'm very tired this afternoon as he spoke he smiled with his usual intelligent and mournful expression and then sinking back into his corner closed his eyes exhausted indeed done for by this fearful trip to lord as you can very well understand now resumed monsieur vigneron it by no means amuses me to stay here kicking my heels while my wife and my son go back to paris without me they have to go however for life at the hotel is no longer bearable and besides if i kept them with me and the railway people won't listen to reason i should have to pay three extra fares and to make matters worse my wife hasn't got much brains i'm afraid she won't be able to manage things properly then almost breathless he overwhelmed madame vigneron with the most minute instructions what she was to do during the journey how she was to get back home on arriving in paris and what steps she was to take if gustav should have another attack somewhat scared she responded in all docility to each recommendation yes yes dear of course dear of course but all at once her husband's rage came back to him after all he shouted what i want to know is whether my return ticket be good or not i must know for certain they must find that station master for me he was already on the point of rushing away through the crowd when he noticed gustav's crutch lying on the platform this was disastrous and he raised his eyes to heaven as though to call providence to witness that he would never be able to extricate himself from such awful complications and throwing the crutch to his wife he hurried off distracted and shouting there take it you forget everything the sick pilgrims were now flocking into the station and as on the occasion of their arrival there was endless disorderly carting along the platform and across the lines all the abominable ailments all the sores all the deformities went past once more neither their gravity nor their number seeming to have decreased for the few cures which had been affected were but like a faint inappreciable gleam of light amidst the general morning they were taken back as they had come the little carts laden with helpless old women with their bags at their feet grated over the rails the stretches on which you saw inflated bodies and pale faces with glittering eyes swayed amidst the jostling of the throng there was wild and senseless haste indescribable confusion questions calls sudden running all the whirling of a flock which cannot find the entrance to the pen and the bearers ended by losing their heads no longer knowing which direction to take amidst the warning cries of the porters who at each moment were frightening people distracting them with anguish take care over there make haste no no don't cross the toulouse train the toulouse train retracing his steps pierre again perceived the ladies madame jean carre and the others still gaily chatting together lingering near them he listened to berthot whom father fulcard had stopped to congratulate him on the good order which had been maintained throughout the pilgrimage the ex-public prosecutor was now bowing his thanks feeling quite flattered by this praise is it not a lesson for their republic your reverence he asked people get killed in paris when such crowds as these celebrate some bloody anniversary of their hateful history they ought to come and take a lesson here he was delighted with the thought of being disagreeable to the government which had compelled him to resign he was never so happy as when women were just saved from being knocked over amidst the great concourse of believers at gloved however he did not seem to be satisfied with the results of the political propaganda which he came to further there during three days every year fits of impatience came over him things did not move fast enough when did our lady of lord mean to bring back the monarchy you see your reverence said he the only means the real triumph would be to bring the working classes of the towns here en masse i shall cease dreaming i shall devote myself to that entirely i if one could only create a catholic democracy father four card had become very grave his fine intelligent eyes filled with a dreamy expression and wandered far away how many times already had he himself made the creation of that new people the object of his efforts but was not the breath of a new messiah needed for the accomplishment of such a task yes yes he murmured a catholic democracy the history of humanity would begin afresh but father massias interrupted him in a passionate voice saying that all the nations of the earth would end by coming whilst dr bonamy who already detected a slight subsidence of fervor among the pilgrims wagged his head and expressed the opinion that the faithful ones of the grotto ought to increase their zeal to his mind success especially depended on the greatest possible measure of publicity being given to the miracles and he assumed a radiant air and laughed complacently whilst pointing to the tumultuous defile of the seek look at them said he don't they go off looking better there are a great many who although they don't appear to be cured are nevertheless carrying the germs of cure away with them of that you may be certain ah the good people they do far more than we do all together for the glory of our lady of lord however he had to check himself for madame was passing before them in her box lined with quilted silk she was deposited in front of the door of the first class carriage in which a maid was already placing the luggage pity came to all who beheld the unhappy woman for she did not seem to have awakened from her prostration during her three days sojourn at lord what she had been when they had removed her from the carriage on the morning of her arrival that she also was now when the bearers were about to place her inside it again clad in lace covered with jewels still with the lifeless imbecile face of a mummy slowly liquefying and indeed you might have thought that she had become yet more wasted that she was being taken back diminished shrunken more and more to the proportions of a child by the march of that horrible disease which after destroying her bones was now dissolving the softened fibers of her muscles inconsolable bowed down by the loss of their last hope her husband and sister their eyes read were following her with abeji den even as one follows a corpse to the grave no no not yet said the old priests to the bearers in order to prevent them from placing the box in the carriage she will have time enough to roll along in there let her have the warmth of that lovely sky above her till the last possible moment then seeing pier near him he drew him a few steps aside and in a voice broken by grief resumed ah I am indeed distressed again this morning I had a hope I had her taken to the grotto I set my mask for her and came back to pray till 11 o'clock but nothing came of it the blessed virgin did not listen to me although she cured me a poor useless old man like me I could not obtain from her the cure of this beautiful young and wealthy woman whose life ought to be a continual fit undoubtedly the blessed virgin knows what she ought to do better than ourselves and I bow myself and bless her name nevertheless my soul is full of frightful sadness he did not tell everything he did not confess the thought which was upsetting him simple childish worthy man that he was whose life had never been troubled by either passion or doubt but his thought was that those poor weeping people the husband and the sister had too many millions that the presents they had brought were too costly that they had given far too much money to the basilica a miracle is not to be bought the wealth of the world is a hindrance rather than an advantage when you address yourself to god assuredly if the blessed virgin had turned a deaf ear to their entreaties had shown them but a stern cold countenance it was in order that she might the more attentively listen to the weak voices of the lowly ones who had come to her with empty hands with no other wealth than their love and these she had loaded with grace flooded with the glowing affection of her divine motherhood and those poor wealthy ones who had not been heard that sister and that husband both so rich and beside the sorry body they were taking away with them they themselves felt like pariahs among the throng of the humble who had been consoled or healed they seemed embarrassed by their very luxury and recoiled awkward and ill at ease covered with shame at the thought that our lady of lord had relieved beggars whilst never casting a glance upon that beautiful and powerful lady agonizing unto death amidst all her lace all at once it occurred to pier that he might have missed seeing monsieur de gersin marie arrive that they were perhaps already in the carriage he returned thither but there was still only his valise on the seat sister yersaint and sister claire des hanches however had begun to install themselves pending the arrival of their chargers and as gerard's just then brought up monsieur sabatier in a little handcart pierre helped to place him in the carriage a laborious task which put both the young priest and gerard into a perspiration the ex-professor who looked disconsolate though very calm at once settled himself in his corner thank you gentlemen said he that's over thank goodness and now they'll only have to take me out at paris after wrapping a rug around his legs madame sabatier who was also there got out of the carriage and remained standing near the open door she was talking to pierre when all at once she broke off to say here's madame mars coming to take her seat she confided in me the other day you know she's a very unhappy little woman then in an obliging spirit she called to her and offered to watch over her things but madame mars shook her head laughed and gesticulated as though she were out of her senses no no i'm not going said she what you are not going back no no i'm not going that is i am but not with you not with you she wore such an extraordinary air she looked so bright that pierre and madame sabatier found it difficult to recognize her her fair prematurely faded face was radiant she seemed to be 10 years younger suddenly aroused from the infinite sadness into which desertion had plunged her and at last her joy overflowing she raised a cry i am going off with him yes he has come to fetch me he is taking me with him yes yes we are going to leash on together together then with a rapturous glance she pointed out a dark sturdy-looking young man with gay eyes and bright red lips who was purchasing some newspapers there that's my husband said she that handsome man who's laughing over there with the newspaper girl he turned up here early this morning and he's carrying me off we shall take the toulouse train in a couple of minutes oh dear madame i told you of all my worries and you can understand my happiness can't you however she could not remain silent but again spoke of the frightful letter which he had received on sunday a letter in which he had declared to her that if she should take advantage of her sojourn at lord and come to leuchon after him he would not open the door to her and think of it theirs had been a love match but for 10 years he had neglected her profiting by his continual journeys as a commercial traveller to take friends about with him from one to the other end of france ah that time she had thought it all over she had asked the blessed virgin to let her die for she knew that the faithless one was at that very moment at leuchon with two friends what was it then that it happened a thunderbolt must certainly have fallen from heaven those two friends must have received a warning from on high perhaps they had dreamt that they were already condemned to everlasting punishment at all events they had fled one evening without a word of explanation and he unable to live alone had suddenly been seized with the desire to fetch his forsaken wife and keep her with him for a week grace must certainly have fallen on him though he did not say it for he was so kind and pleasant that she could not do otherwise than believe in a real beginning of conversion ah how grateful i am to the blessed virgin she continued she alone can have acted and i well understood her last evening it seemed to me that she made a little sign just at the very moment when my husband was making up his mind to come here to fetch me i asked him at what time it was that the idea occurred to him and the hours fit in exactly ah there has been no greater miracle the others make me smile with their mended legs and their vanished sores blessed be our lady of lord who has healed my heart just then the sturdy young man turned round and she darted away to join him so full of delight that she forgot to bid the others goodbye and it was at this moment amidst the growing crowd of patients whom the bearers were bringing that the to lose train at last came in the tumult increased the confusion became extraordinary bells rang and signals worked whilst the station master was seen rushing up shouting with all the strength of his lungs be careful there clear the line at once a railway employee had to rush from the platform to push a little vehicle which had been forgotten on the line with an old woman in it out of harm's way however yet another scared band of pilgrims ran across when the steaming growling engine was only 30 yards distant others losing their heads would have been crushed by the wheels if porters had not roughly caught them by the shoulders then without having pounded anybody the train at last stopped alongside the mattresses pillows and cushions lying hither and thither and the bewildered whirling groups of people the carriage doors opened and a torrent of travelers alighted whilst another torrent climbed in these two obstinately contending currents bringing the tumult to a climax faces first wearing an inquisitive expression and then overcome by stupefaction at the astonishing sight showed themselves at the windows of the doors which remained closed and among them one especially noticed the faces of two remarkably pretty girls whose large candid eyes ended by expressing the most dolorous compassion followed by her husband however madame mars had climbed into one of the carriages feeling as happy and buoyant as if she were in her 20th year again as on the already distant evening of her honeymoon journey and the doors having been slammed the engine gave a loud whistle and began to move going off slowly and heavily between the throng which in the rear of the train flowed on to the lines again like an invading torrent whose floodgates have been swept away bar the platform shouted the station master to his men keep watch when the engine comes up the belated pilgrims and patients had arrived amidst this alert nagrivot passed by with her feverish eyes and excited dancing gate followed by elise rouquet and sophie couteau who were very gay and quite out of breath through running all three hastened to their carriage where sissy ear sands scolded them they had almost been left behind at the grotto where at times the pilgrims lingered forgetfully unable to tear themselves away still imploring and treating the blessed virgin when the train was waiting for them at the railway station all at once pierre who likewise was anxious no longer knowing what to think perceived monsieur de guercin and marie quietly talking with abbey juden on the covered platform he hastened to join them and told them of his impatience what have you been doing he asked i was losing all hope what have we been doing responded monsieur de guercin with quiet astonishment we were at the grotto as you know very well there was a priest there preaching in a most remarkable manner and we should still be there if i hadn't remembered that we had to leave and we took a fly here as we promised you we would do he broke off to look at the clock but hang it all he added there's no hurry the train won't start for another quarter an hour this was true then marie smiling with divine joy exclaimed oh if you only knew pierre what happiness i have brought away from that last visit to the blessed virgin i saw her smile at me i felt her giving me strength to live really that farewell was delightful and you must not scold us pierre he himself had begun to smile somewhat ill at ease however as he thought of his nervous fidgeting had he then experienced so keen a desire to get far away from lord had he feared that the grotto might keep marie that she might never come away from it again now that she was there beside him he was astonished at having indulged such thoughts and felt himself to be very calm however whilst he was advising them to go and take their seats in the carriage he recognized dr. chasenya hastily approaching ah my dear doctor he said i was waiting for you i should have been sorry indeed to have gone away without embracing you but the old doctor who was trembling with emotion interrupted him yes yes i'm late but ten minutes ago just as i arrived i caught sight of that eccentric fellow the commander and had a talk with him over yonder he was sneering at the sight of your people taking the train again to go and die at home when said he they ought to have done so before coming to lord well all at once while he was talking like this he fell on the ground before me it was his third attack of paralysis the one he had long been expecting mon dieu nomad abid juden who heard the doctor he was blaspheming heaven has punished him monsieur de gelsain marie were listening greatly interested and deeply moved i had him carried yonder into that shed continued the doctor it is all over i can do nothing he will doubtless be dead before a quarter of an hour has gone by but i thought of a priest and hastened up to you then turning towards abbey juden monsieur chasenya added come with me monsieur le curee you know him we cannot let a christian depart unsuckered perhaps he will be moved recognize his error and become reconciled with god abbey juden quickly followed the doctor and in the rear went monsieur de gelsain leading marie and pierre whom the thought of this tragedy impassioned all five entered the good shed at 20 paces from the crowd which was still bustling and buzzing without a soul in it suspecting that there was a man dying so nearby in a solitary corner of the shed between two piles of sacks filled with oats lay the commander on a mattress borrowed from the hospitality's reserve supply he wore his everlasting frock coat with its buttonhole decked with a broad red ribbon and somebody who had taken the precaution to pick up his silver-knobbed walking stick had carefully placed it on the ground beside the mattress abbey juden at once lent over him you recognize us you can hear us my poor friend can't you answered the priest only the commander's eyes now appeared to be alive but they were alive still glittering brightly with a stubborn flame of energy the attack had this time fallen on his right side almost entirely depriving him of the power of speech he could only stammer a few words by which he succeeded in making them understand that he wished to die there without being moved or worried any further he had no relative at lord where nobody knew anything either of his former life or his family for three years he had lived there happily on the salary attached to his little post at the station and now he had last beheld his ardent his only desire approaching fulfillment the desire that he might depart and fall into the eternal sleep his eyes expressed the great joy he felt at being so near his end have you any wish to make known to us resumed abbey juden cannot we be useful to you in any way no no his eyes replied that he was all right well pleased for three years passed he had never got up in the morning without hoping that by night time he would be sleeping in the cemetery whenever he saw the sunshine he was wont to say in an envious tone what a beautiful day for departure and now that death was at last at hand ready to deliver him from his hateful existence it was indeed welcome i can do nothing science is powerless he is condemned said dr. charsenian a low bitter tone to the old priest who begged him to attempt some effort however at the same moment a chance that an aged woman a pilgrim of four score years who had lost her way and knew not whether she was going entered the shed lame and humpbacked reduced to the stature of childhood's days afflicted with all the ailments of extreme old age she was dragging herself along with the assistance of a stick and at her side was slung a can full of lured water which she was taking away with her in the hope of yet prolonging her old age in spite of all its frightful decay for a moment her senile imbecile mind was quite scared she stood looking at that outstretched stiffened man who was dying then a gleam of grand motherly kindness appeared in the depths of her dim vague eyes and with the sisterly feelings of one who was very aged and suffered very grievously she drew nearer and taking hold of her can with her hands which never ceased shaking she offered it to the man to abid you then this seemed like a sudden flash of light an inspiration from on high he who had prayed so fervently and so often for the cure of madame du lafay without being heard by the blessed virgin now glowed with fresh faith in the conviction that if the commander would only drink that water he would be cured the old priest fell upon his knees beside the mattress oh brother he said it is god who has sent you this woman reconcile yourself with god drink and pray whilst we ourselves implore the divine mercy with our whole souls god will prove his power to you god will work the great miracle of setting you erect once more so that you may yet spend many years upon this earth loving him and glorifying him no no the commander's sparkling eyes cried no he indeed show himself as cowardly as those flocks of pilgrims who came from afar through so many fatigues in order to drag themselves on the ground and sob and beg heaven to let them live a month a year 10 years longer it was so pleasant so simple to die quietly in your bed you turned your face to the wall and you died drink oh my brother i implore you continued the old priest it is life that you will drink it is strength and health the very joy of living drink that you may become young again that you may begin a new and pious life drink that you may sing the praises of the divine mother who will have saved both your body and your soul she's speaking to me your resurrection is certain but no but no the eyes refused declined to the offer of life with growing obstinacy and in their expression now appeared a covert fear of the miraculous the commander did not believe for three years he had been shrugging his shoulders at the pretended cases of cure but could one ever tell in this strange world of ours such extraordinary things did sometimes happen and if by chance their water should really have a supernatural power and if by force they should make him drink some of it it would be terrible to have to live again to endure once more the punishment of a galley slave existence that abomination which Lazarus the pitiable object of the great miracle had suffered twice no no he would not drink he would not incur the fearful risk of resurrection drink drink my brother repeated abeshu den who was now in tears do not harden your heart to refuse the favors of heaven and then a terrible thing was seen this man already half dead raised himself shaking off the stifling bonds of paralysis loosening for a second his tied tongue and stammering growling in a horse voice no no no pier had to lead the stupefied old woman away and put her in the right direction again she had failed to understand that refusal of the water which she herself was taking home with her like an inestimable treasure the very gift of God's eternity to the poor who did not wish to die lame of one leg humpbacked dragging the sorry remnants of her forescore years along by the assistance of her stick she disappeared among the tramping crowd consumed by the passion of being eager for space air sunshine and noise Marie and her father had shuddered in presence of that appetite for death that greedy hungering for the end which the commander showed to sleep to sleep without a dream in the infinite darkness forever and forever nothing in the world could have seemed so sweet to him he did not hope in a better life he had no desire to become happy at last in a paradise where equality and justice would reign his soul longing was for black night and endless sleep the joy of being no more of never never being again and dr. Chasseigne also had shuddered for he also nourished but one thought the thought of the happy moment when he would depart but in his case on the other side of this earthly existence he would find his dear lost ones awaiting him at the spot where eternal life began and how icy cold all would have seemed had he but for a single moment thought that he might not meet them there abeshu then painfully rose up it had seemed to him that the commander was now fixing his bright eyes upon Marie deeply grieved that his entreaties should have been of no avail the priest wished to show the dying man an example of that goodness of god which he repulsed you recognize her do you not he asked yes it is the young lady who arrived here on saturday so ill with both legs paralyzed and you see her now so full of health so strong so beautiful heaven has taken pity on her and now she is reviving to youth to the long life she was born to live do you feel no regret in seeing her would you also like her to be dead would you have advised her not to drink the water the commander could not answer but his eyes no longer strayed from Marie's young face on which one read such great happiness at having resuscitated such vast hopes in countless morose and tears appeared in those fixed eyes of his gathered under their lids and rolled down his cheeks which were already cold he was certainly weeping for her he must have been thinking of that other miracle which he had wished her that if she should be cured she might be happy it was the tenderness of an old man who knows the miseries of this world stirred to pity by the thought of all the sorrows which awaited this young creature our poor woman how many times perhaps might she regret that she had not died in her 20th year then the commander's eyes grew very dim as though those last pitiful tears had dissolved them it was the end coma was coming the mind was departing with the breath he slightly turned and died Dr. Chasen yet once drew Marie aside the train starting he said make haste make haste indeed the loud ringing of a bell was clearly resounding above the growing tumult of the crowd and the doctor having requested two bearers to watch the body which would be removed later on when the train had gone desired to accompany his friends to their carriage they hastened their steps Abbe Juden who was in despair joined them after saying a short prayer for the repose of that rebellious soul however while Marie followed by Pierre and Monsieur de Gelsin was running along the platform she was stopped once more and this time by Dr. Bonamy who triumphantly presented her to father full card here is Mademoiselle de Gelsin your reverence the young lady who was healed so marvelously yesterday the radiant smile of a general who was reminded of his most decisive victory appeared on father full cards face I know I know I was there he replied God has blessed you among all women my dear daughter go and cause his name to be worshiped then he congratulated monsieur de Gelsin whose paternal pride savoured divine enjoyment it was the ovation beginning afresh the concert of loving words and enraptured glances which had followed the girl through the streets of lured that morning and which again surrounded her at the moment of departure the bell might go on ringing a circle of delighted pilgrims still lingered around her it seemed as if she were carrying away in her person all the glory of the pilgrimage the triumph of religion which would echo and echo to the four corners of the earth and Pierre was moved as he noticed the Dolores group which madame juceur and monsieur dieu le fait formed nearby their eyes were fixed upon Marie like the others they were astonished by the resurrection of this beautiful girl whom they had seen lying inert emaciated with ash and face why should that child have been healed why not the young woman the dear woman whom they were taking home in a dying state their confusion their sense of shame seemed to increase they drew back uneasy like pariahs burdened with too much wealth and it was a great relief for them when three bearers having with difficulty placed madame dieu le fait in the first class compartment they themselves were able to vanish into it in company with abbey jeûden the ampluayers were already shouting take your seats take your seats and father masias the spiritual director of the train had returned to his compartment leaving father four card on the platform leaning on dr bon amie's shoulder in all haste gérard and berthou again saluted the ladies while remonde a got in to join madame designeaux and madame volmar in their corner and madame de jonquière at last ran off to her carriage which she reached at the same time as the ger sens there was hustling and shouting and wild running from one to the other end of the long train to which the engine a copper engine glittering like a star had just been coupled pierre was helping marie into the carriage when missiel vigneron coming back at a gallop shouted to him it'll be good tomorrow it'll be good tomorrow very red in the face he showed and waved his ticket and then galloped off to the compartment where his wife and son had their seats in order to announce the good news to them when marie and her father were installed in their places pierre lingered for another moment on the platform with dr chasen who embraced him paternally the young man wished to induce the doctor to return to paris and take some little interest in life again but monsieur chasen you shook his head no no my dear child he replied i shall remain here they are here they keep me here he was speaking of his dear lost ones then very gently and lovingly he said farewell not farewell my dear doctor till we meet again yes yes farewell the commander was right you know nothing can be so sweet as to die but to die in order to live again baron swere was now giving orders for the removal of the white flags on the foremost and hindmost carriages of the train the shouts of the railway employees were ringing out in more and more imperious tones take your seats take your seats and now came the supreme scramble the torrent of belated pilgrims rushing up distracted breathless and covered with perspiration madame de jonquière and sister yersant were counting their party in the carriage la grivote elise rouquet and sophie couteau were all three there madame sabatier too had taken her seat in front of her husband who with his eyes half closed was patiently awaiting the departure however a voice inquired madame vincent isn't she going back with us there upon sister yersant who was leaning out of the window exchanging a last smile with ferron who stood at the door of the canteen van exclaimed here she comes madame vincent crossed the lines rushed up the last of all breathless and haggard and at once by an involuntary impulse pierred glanced at her arms they carried nothing now all the doors were being closed slammed one after the other the carriages were full and only the signal for departure was awaited panting and smoking the engine gave vent to a first loud whistle shrill and joyous and at that moment the sun hitherto veiled from sight dissipated the light cloudlets and made the whole train resplendent gilding the engine which seemed on the point of starting for the legendary paradise no bitterness but a divine infantile gaiety attended the departure all the sick appeared to be healed though most of them were being taken away in the same condition as they had been brought they went off relieved and happy at all events for an hour and not the slightest jealousy tainted their brotherly and sisterly feelings those who were not cured waxed quite gay triumphant at the cure of the others their own turns would surely come yesterday's miracle was the formal promise of tomorrows even after those three days of burning in treaty their fever of desire remained within them the faith of the forgotten ones continued as keen as ever in the conviction that the blessed virgin had simply deferred a cure for their soul's benefit inextinguishable love invincible hope glowed within all those wretched ones thirsting for life and so a last outburst of joy a turbulent display of happiness laughter and shouts overflowed from all the crowded carriages till next year we'll come back we'll come back again was the cry and then the gay little sisters of the assumption clapped their hands and the hymn of gratitude the Magnificat began sung by all the 800 pilgrims Magnificat anima mea dorminum my soul doth magnify the lord there upon the station master his mind at last at ease his arms hanging beside him caused the signal to be given the engine whistled once again and then set out rolling along in the dazzling sunlight as amidst a glory although his leg was causing him great suffering father full card had remained on the platform leaning upon dr. Bonamie's shoulders and in spite of everything saluting the departure of his dear children with a smile Bertot Gérard and Baron Swir formed another group and near them were dr. Chasseigne and monsieur vigneron waving their handkerchiefs heads were looking joyously out of the windows of the fleeing carriages whence other handkerchiefs were streaming in the current of air produced by the motion of the train madame vigneron compelled gustav to show his pale little face and for a long time remonde as small hand could be seen waving good wishes but marie remained the last looking back on lord as it grew smaller and smaller amidst the trees across the bright countryside the train triumphantly disappeared resplendent growling chanting at the full pitch of its 800 voices et exultar vitt spiritus meo sin deo salutari meo and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my saviour end of section 23