to, Bishop of Sardis, and Cardinal Pietro of
Capua, the towers represent the Virgin Mary, or the Church watching over
the salvation of the Flock.

"It is a certain fact," the Abbe went on, "that the position of the
towers was never rigidly laid down once for all in mediaeval times; thus
different interpretations are admissible according to their position in
the structure. Still, perhaps the most ingeniously refined, the most
exquisite idea is that which occurred to the architects of Saint Maclou
at Rouen, of Notre Dame at Dijon, and of the Cathedral at Laon, for
example, who built rising from the centre of the transepts--that is
above the very spot where, on the Cross, the breast of Christ would lie,
a lantern higher than the rest of the roof, often finishing outside in a
tall and slender spire, starting as it were from the Heart of Christ to
leap with one spring to the Father, to soar as if shot up from the bow
of the vaulting in a sharp dart to reach the sky.

"The towers, like the buildings they overshadow, are almost always
placed on a height that commands the town, and they shed around them
like seed into the soil of the soul, the swarming notes of their bells,
reminding all Christians by this aerial proclamation, this bead-telling
of sound, of the prayers they are commanded to use and the duties they
must fulfil; nay, at need, they may atone before God for man's apathy by
testifying that at least they have not forgotten Him, beseeching Him
with uplifted arms and brazen tongues, taking the place as best they may
of so many human prayers, more vocal perhaps than they."

"With its ship-like character," said Durtal, who had thoughtfully
approached the window, "this Cathedral strikes me as amazingly like a
motionless vessel with spires for masts and the clouds for sails, spread
or furled by the wind as the weather changes; it remains the eternal
image of Peter's boat which Jesus guided through the storm."

"And likewise of Noah's Ark--the Ark outside which there is no safety,"
added the Abbe.

"Now consider the church in all its parts. Its roof is the symbol of
Charity, which covereth a multitude of sins; its slates or tiles are the
soldiers and knights who defend the sanctuary against the heathen,
represented by the storm, its stones, all joined, are, according to
Saint Nilus, emblematic of the union of souls, or, as the _Rationale_ of
Durand of Mende has it, of the multitude of the faithful; the stronger
stones