golden crozier reclined, king of the choir, in a large armchair, amid all
his clergy, who were impassive men with silver hair, and who surrounded
him like the confessing saints whom the painters group round the Lord. The
precentor and the dignitaries of the order, decorated with the glittering
insignia of their ecclesiastical vanities, came and went among the clouds
of incense like planets revolving in the firmament.

When the hour of triumph was come the chimes awoke the echoes of the
countryside, and this immense assembly raised its voice to God in the
first cry of praise which begins the "Te Deum."

Sublime exultation! There were voices pure and high, ecstatic women's
voices, blended with the deep sonorous tones of the men, thousands of
voices so powerful that they drowned the organ in spite of the bellowing
of its pipes. The shrill notes of the choir-boys and the powerful rhythm
of the basses inspired pretty thoughts of the combination of childhood and
strength in this delightful concert of human voices blended in an
outpouring of love.

"Te Deum laudamus!"

In the midst of this cathedral, black with kneeling men and women, the
chant burst forth like a light which gleams suddenly in the night, and the
silence was broken as by a peal of thunder. The voices rose with the
clouds of incense which threw diaphanous, bluish veils over the quaint
marvels of the architecture. All was richness, perfume, light and melody.

At the moment at which this symphony of love and gratitude rolled toward
the altar, Don Juan, too polite not to express his thanks and too witty
not to appreciate a jest, responded by a frightful laugh, and straightened