to end
his life by his own hands, he desisted, and clasping his hands, prayed
aloud--

"Deus meus, ad te vigilo, miserere me."

A Capuchin fearing that he would have time to say more, approached
the pile from the side which had not yet caught fire, and dashed the
remainder of the holy water in his face. This caused such smoke that
Grandier was hidden for a moment from the eyes of the spectators; when
it cleared away, it was seen that his clothes were now alight; his voice
could still be heard from the midst of the flames raised in prayer;
then three times, each time in a weaker voice, he pronounced the name of
Jesus, and giving one cry, his head fell forward on his breast.

At that moment the pigeons which had till then never ceased to circle
round the stake, flew away, and were lost in the clouds.

Urbain Grandier had given up the ghost.

CHAPTER XII

This time it was not the man who was executed who was guilty, but the
executioners; consequently we feel sure that our readers will be anxious
to learn something of their fate.

Pere Lactance died in the most terrible agony on September 18th, 1634,
exactly a month from the date of Grandier's death. His brother-monks
considered that this was due to the vengeance of Satan; but others were
not wanting who said, remembering the summons uttered by Grandier, that
it was rather due to the justice of God. Several attendant circumstances
seemed to favour the latter opinion. The author of the History of the
Devils of Loudzin gives an account of one of these circumstances, for
the authenticity of which he vouches, and from which we extract the
following:

"Some days after the execution of Grandier, Pere Lactance fell ill
of the disease of which he died. Feeling that it was of supernatural
origin, he determined to take a pilgrimage to Notre Dame des Andilliers
de Saumur, where many miracles were wrought, and which was held in high
estimation in the neighbourhood. A place in the carriage of the Sieur de
Canaye was offered him for the journey; for this gentleman, accompanied
by a large party on pleasure bent, was just then setting out for his
estate of Grand Fonds, which lay in the same direction. The reason for
the offer was that Canaye and his friends, having heard that the last
words of Grandier had affected Pere Lactance's mind, expected to find
a great deal of amusement in exciting the terrors of their
travelling-companion. And in truth, for a day or two, the boon