with him for France, where they could
live happily. This she scornfully refused, whereupon "one of the
ruffians strangled her for ten marcs of silver; and her soul, white and
pure as the angels, ascended to the throne of Jesus, in whom she so well
believed, and there became '_l'unique espoux dont elle ambitionait
l'Amour._'"

It is said that Henry the First sitting in a window of his chateau on
the river Dyle one night, saw floating on the dark water the corpse of
this young martyr, where the ruffians had thus thrown her, and "the pale
radiance from her brow illuminated the whole valley." Calling to his
consort, Marguerite of Flanders, he pointed out to her the wondrous
sight, and hastening forth they drew her dripping body from the dark
slimy water and bore it tenderly to the chateau. The news spread far and
wide, and for days came throngs to view the "sweet martyr's" body, for
which the priests had prepared a costly catafalque, and for her a grand
mass was celebrated in St. Peter's where she was laid at rest in a tomb,
the like of which for costliness was never seen in Flanders.

And this is the legend of Margaret, called "La Fiere," whose blameless
life was known throughout the land.

I wish that I had made a drawing of this tomb while I was in the church,
but I neglected unfortunately to do so. It was of simple lines, but of
great richness of detail. Of course both it and the beautiful wax
paintings of M. Verhaegan are now entirely destroyed in the ruins of St.
Peter's.

Douai

Douai

Although across the border in France, Douai must still be called a
Flemish town, because of its history and affiliations. The town is
quaint in the extreme and of great antiquity, growing up originally
around a Gallo-Roman fort. In the many wars carried on by the French
against the English, the Flemish and the Germans, not to mention its
sufferings from the invading Spaniards, it suffered many sieges and
captures. Resisting the memorable attack of Louis the Eleventh, it has
regularly celebrated the anniversary of this victory each year in a
notable Fete or Kermesse, in which the effigies of the giant Gayant and
his family, made of wickerwork and clad in medieval costumes, are
paraded through the town by order of the authorities, followed by a
procession of costumed attendants through the tortuous streets, to the
music of bands and the chimes from the belfry of the Hotel de Ville.

This, the most notable edifice