windows became like a fray at a tourney.

In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without leaving
its place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine music mingling
with the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, accompanied by the deep
notes of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers rocked and swayed on
their square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to me the most natural
thing in the world; and I, who had seen Charles X. hurled from his
throne, was no longer amazed by anything. Nay, I myself was gently
swaying with a see-saw movement that influenced my nerves pleasurably in
a manner of which it is impossible to give any idea. Yet in the midst of
this heated riot, the cathedral choir felt cold as if it were a winter
day, and I became aware of a multitude of women, robed in white, silent,
and impassive, sitting there. The sweet incense smoke that arose from
the censers was grateful to my soul. The tall wax candles flickered. The
lectern, gay as a chanter undone by the treachery of wine, was skipping
about like a peal of Chinese bells.

Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast that
everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on the
crucifix above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice and
benevolence that frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and marveled
at the bluish vapor that slid across the pillars, lending to them an
indescribable charm. Then some graceful women's forms began to stir on
the friezes. The cherubs who upheld the heavy columns shook out their
wings. I felt myself uplifted by some divine power that steeped me in
infinite joy, in a sweet and languid rapture. I would have given my
life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a little, but
suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears:

"Awake and follow me!"

A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through
every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow,
almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old
woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her
throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I could
scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a stare
upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the aisles, leaving a
trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from her dress. Her
bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a skeleton; and as we