speak with levity at such a moment! And the little ladies were very
kind. It was wrong to close their chapel, M. le Maire. From that comes
all our trouble.'

'You good-for-nothing!' I cried, 'it is you and such as you that are the
beginning of our trouble. You thought there was no watch kept _up
there_; you thought God would not take the trouble to punish you; you
went about the streets of Semur tossing a _grosse pièce_ of a hundred
sous, and calling out, "There is no God--this is my god; _l'argent,
c'est le bon Dieu_."'

'M. le Maire, M. le Maire, be silent, I implore you! It is enough to
bring down a judgment upon us.'

'It has brought down a judgment upon us. Go thou and try what thy
_grosse pièce_ will do for thee now--worship thy god. Go, I tell you,
and get help from your money.'

'I have no money, M. le Maire, and what could money do here? We would do
much better to promise a large candle for the next festival, and that
the ladies of St. Jean--'

'Get away with thee to the end of the world, thou and thy ladies of St.
Jean!' I cried; which was wrong, I do not deny it, for they are good
women, not like this good-for-nothing fellow. And to think that this
man, whom I despise, was more pleasant to me than the dear souls who
loved me! Shame came upon me at the thought. I too, then, was like the
others, fearing the Unseen--capable of understanding only that which was
palpable. When Jacques slunk away, which he did for a few steps, not
losing sight of me, I turned my face towards the river and the town. The