f the Belgian
army, indicating that the government felt an interest in the display.
The students were on the tiptoe of excitement at the novel spectacle;
and Paul asked his friend, the doctor, a great many questions which he
could not answer. The composition and order of the procession were very
nearly as follows:--

A man bearing a cross on a pole.
Banner.
Little girls dressed in white, with flowers in their hands.
Little boys.
Banner.
Image of the Virgin borne by four men.
A lamb, very white and clean, led by a string, and
decorated with red ribbons, with boys on each
side, carrying various emblems.
Young ladies in white.
Another image of the Virgin.
About twenty priests, in white muslin robes, and in
satin robes trimmed with gold.
Two boys with censers.
Silken canopy, borne by four men, under which walked
two ecclesiastics, in full costume one
bearing the Host.

The canopy was surrounded by men carrying lanterns with silver
framework, and of peculiar construction. The censers, as they were swung
backward and forward by the bearers, emitted a dense smoke, which rose
far above the procession, and marked its progress.

As the _cortege_ approached the spot where the boys stood, the band
ceased playing, and the priests began to chant the mass to the
accompaniment of a single base horn. The procession moved very slowly,
and the rich voices of the priests, mingling with the heavy notes of the
horn, produced an effect solemn and impressive even on the minds of
those whose religious education did not prepare them to appreciate such
a display.

As the host approached, hundreds of the crowd in the street knelt
reverently upon the pavement, and bowed their heads before the sacred
emblems. Women and children strewed the path of the procession with
flowers, green branches, or, in the absence of these, with handfuls of
colored paper cut into minute pieces. Indeed, the street, in places, was
literally covered with these votive offerings of the people, who had no
other means of testifying their reverence for the ceremonial.

The line filed into the Rue Longue Neuve, which was extensively
decorated with flags, streamers, and other national and religious
emblems. In many windows burned a line of candles, in some cases before
a crucifix. In this street the procession halted, and several of the
priests moved up an arch forming the entrance to one of the better
residences. I