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The sort of living being which lay upon that plank on the morning of Quasimodo, in the year of the Lord, 1467, appeared to excite to a high degree, the curiosity of the numerous group which had congregated about the wooden bed. The group was formed for the most part of the fair sex. Hardly any one was there except old women. In the first row, and among those who were most bent over the bed, four were noticeable, who, from their gray _cagoule_, a sort of cassock, were recognizable as attached to some devout sisterhood. I do not see why history has not transmitted to posterity the names of these four discreet and venerable damsels. They were Agnes la Herme, Jehanne de la Tarme, Henriette la Gaultiere, Gauchere la Violette, all four widows, all four dames of the Chapel Etienne Haudry, who had quitted their house with the permission of their mistress, and in conformity with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, in order to come and hear the sermon. However, if these good Haudriettes were, for the moment, complying with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, they certainly violated with joy those of Michel de Brache, and the Cardinal of Pisa, which so inhumanly enjoined silence upon them. "What is this, sister?" said Agnes to Gauchere, gazing at the little creature exposed, which was screaming and writhing on the wooden bed, terrified by so many glances. "What is to become of us," said Jehanne, "if that is the way children are made now?" "I'm not learned in the matter of children," resumed Agnes, "but it must be a sin to look at this one." "'Tis not a child, Agnes." "'Tis an abortion of a monkey," remarked Gauchere. "'Tis a miracle," interposed Henriette la Gaultiere. "Then," remarked Agnes, "it is the third since the Sunday of the _Loetare_: for, in less than a week, we had the miracle of the mocker of pilgrims divinely punished by Notre-Dame d'Aubervilliers, and that was the second miracle within a month." "This pretended foundling is a real monster of abomination," resumed Jehanne. "He yells loud enough to deafen a chanter," continued Gauchere. "Hold your tongue, you little howler!" "To think that Monsieur of Reims sent this enormity to Monsieur of Paris," added la Gaultiere, clasping her hands. "I imagine," said Agnes la Herme, "that it is a beast, an animal,--the fruit of--a Jew and a sow; something not Christian, in short, which ought to be thrown into the fire or into the water." "I really hope," re
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