old woman, felt her
pulse, and listened for a heart beat, he said: "It is all over."

Caravan threw himself on the body, sobbing violently; he kissed his
mother's rigid face, and wept so that great tears fell on the dead
woman's face like drops of water, and, naturally, Madame Caravan,
junior, showed a decorous amount of grief, and uttered feeble moans as
she stood behind her husband, while she rubbed her eyes vigorously.

But, suddenly, Caravan raised himself up, with his thin hair in
disorder, and, looking very ugly in his grief, said:

"But--are you sure, doctor? Are you quite sure?"

The doctor stooped over the body, and, handling it with professional
dexterity, as a shopkeeper might do, when showing off his goods, he
said:

"See, my dear friend, look at her eye."

He raised the eyelid, and the old woman's eye appeared altogether
unaltered, unless, perhaps, the pupil was rather larger, and Caravan
felt a severe shock at the sight. Then Monsieur Chenet took her thin
arm, forced the fingers open, and said, angrily, as if he had been
contradicted:

"Just look at her hand; I never make a mistake, you may be quite sure of
that."

Caravan fell on the bed, and almost bellowed, while his wife, still
whimpering, did what was necessary.

She brought the night-table, on which she spread a towel and placed
four wax candles on it, which she lighted; then she took a sprig of box,
which was hanging over the chimney glass, and put it between the four
candles, in a plate, which she filled with clean water, as she had no
holy water. But, after a moment's rapid reflection, she threw a pinch of
salt into the water, no doubt thinking she was performing some sort
of act of consecration by doing that, and when she had finished, she
remained standing motionless, and the doctor, who had been helping her,
whispered to her:

"We must take Caravan away."

She nodded assent, and, going up to her husband, who was still on his
knees, sobbing, she raised him up by one arm, while Chenet took him by
the other.

They put him into a chair, and his wife kissed his forehead, and then
began to lecture him. Chenet enforced her words and preached firmness,
courage, and resignation--the very things which are always wanting in
such overwhelming misfortunes--and then both of them took him by the
arms again and led him out.

He was crying like a great child, with convulsive sobs; his arms hanging
down, and his legs weak, and he went downstair