ore;
and then with what terror we crossed the hamlet on our way home! How
deep did the church porch appear to us, and how thick and black the
shadows of the old trees! The graveyard we dared not see; we shut our
eyes tight as we passed it.

But no more than the sacristan is the hemp-dresser gifted solely
with the desire of frightening; he loves to make people laugh; he is
sarcastic and sentimental at need, when love and marriage are to be
sung. It is he who collects and keeps stored in his memory the oldest
songs, and who transmits them to posterity. And so it is he who acts at
weddings the part we shall see him play at the presentation of little
Marie's favors.

II -- The Wedding Favors

WHEN all the guests were met together in the house, the doors and
windows were closed with the utmost care; even the garret window was
barricaded; boards and benches, logs and tables were placed behind every
entrance, just as if the inhabitants were making ready to sustain a
siege; and within these fortifications solemn stillness prevailed until
at a distance were heard songs and laughter and the sounds of rustic
music. It was the band of the bridegroom, Germain at the head, followed
by his most trusty companions and by the grave-digger, relatives,
friends, and servants, who formed a compact and merry train. Meanwhile,
as they came nearer the house they slackened their pace, held a council
of war, and became silent. The girls, shut up in the house, had arranged
little loop-holes at the windows by which they could see the enemy
approach and deploy in battle array. A fine, cold rain was falling,
which added zest to the situation, while a great tire blazed on the
hearth within. Marie wished to cut short the inevitable slowness of this
well-ordered siege; she had no desire to see her lover catch cold,
but not being in authority she had to take an ostensible share in the
mischievous cruelty of her companions.

When the two armies met, a discharge of firearms on the part of the
besiegers set all the dogs in the neighborhood to barking. Those within
the house dashed at the door with loud yelps, thinking that the attack
was in earnest, and the children, little reassured by the efforts of
their mothers, began to weep and to tremble. The whole scene was played
so well that a stranger would have been deceived, and would have made
his preparations to tight a band of brigands. Then the grave-digger,
bard and orator of the groom, took his