The Dickinson press., 1883-09-08

Immediately laundering of footsteps
was to be heard down the staircase; every
one rushed out, the woman groaning-in-
deed, the uproar was fearful. In o few
minutes the room was quite empty. Du-
chene left me, and being exhausted, 1
leaned on q window-si and watched the
people running up and down the street;
then I went off. too, mad with despair.
On the steps outside a number Of people
were seated, and were confessing to each
other. One said: Il have been q usurer;"
another, Il have used false weights;" an
other, Il have cheated at cards." They
were oil talking together, and from time to
time they interrupted themselves to cry fer
mercy. Among them I recognized the old
baker, Fevre, and mother Lauritz; they
were striking their breasts, and looking
perfectly miserable.
But I did not pay much attention to all
those things. for / had sins enough Of my
own to think of.
soon caught up to those who were run
ming to the fountain. There it was terri
BILE indeed to hear the groanings. Every
n saw Immediately that it was really q
comet; and as for me, I thought that it had
already doubled in size. 1t seemed to be
darting out lightnings, and the profound
tlackness of the night made it appear as
red as blood. The crowd kept repeating in
q voice Of lamentations:
1T is finished! it is fnishedl We are lost!''
The women called On Saint Joseph,
Saint Christopher, Saint Nicholas-in
short, on all the saints in the calender. At
this moment every sin I had ever commit
ted seemed to come before my mind, and I
felt a horror Of myself. 1 trembled
from head to foot as I thought that we
were now going to be burnt. On his crut-
ches, close by me, was the old beggar Bal.
thazar. when you are in heaven you will
remember me-wil you not?" said to
hin.
He replied. sobbing: II am myself u
great sinner, Monsieur Christian; l have
been deceiving the parish for these thirty
years. from the love Of idleness, for I al.
not as lame as you think"
"As for me, Balthazar," I went on, II am
the greatest criminal in Hunebourg."
We were almost weeping in each others
arms.
We had all been on our knees there for
q quarter of an hour, when Sergeant
Duchene arrived. quite out of breath. He
had run first to the arsenal, and seeing
nothing down there, came back by the
stTeoC OI tQ0 CApuCQlQS.
Well" said he. what on earth made
you cry out3'
Then, perceiving the comet: Thunder
alive!" exclaimed he, what Is that?"
ut is thu end of the world, sergeant. "
said Balthazar.
Duchene drew his sabre, and gliding
along against the wall, exclaimed:
Forward! What do I care for it? I'll
reconnoitre."
Every n admired his courage; as for
me, l was quite carried away by his
audacity, and determined to follow him.
We walked along slowly, staring at the
comet, which kept increasing visibly in
size, as if it were travelling millions of
miles every second.
At last we arrived atthe corner Of the old
convent Of the Capuchins. The comet now
appeared to mount up; the more we adj
vanced the more it mounted; w were
obliged to raise our heads; at last Duchene
had quite to bend his neck backward and
look straight up into the Dir. I was a f.w
steps further eff, and was looking at tie
comet a little sideways. I was consider
within myself if it we're prudent to go 8 Y
further. when suddenly the sergeant ST.
ped, and said in a low voice:
Good heavens! it is the street lantern!
"The lanternl" 1 exclaimed, running for
ward, "can it be so?'
I looked up quite wonder struck. 1t was
indeed the old lantern of the Capuchin con-
vent. It is not usually lit, because there
have been no monks there since 1898, and
because the inhabitants of Hunebourg gen.
orally go to bed with the cocks and hens;
but on this night, the Waterman, Burrhus,
foreseeingthat there would be a good many
tipsy people about, before he went to bed
himself charitably thought he would put a
candle in the old lantern,
so as to prevent people from
tumbllng into the ditch which goes
along by the old cloisters. We could not
clearly distinguish the lantern between the
branches of the trees. The stuff of the
lantern was as thick as ones thumb, and
when there was a little gust of wind, this
stuff caught ire, and threw out, as it were.
flashes of lightning, and this was what
seemed to move forward like q comet.
When I saw all this, I was just going to call
out to let the rest of the people know, whsn
the sergeant stopped me, saying: Hold
your tongue! If it were knownthat we had
made a charge at q lantern, we should be
finely laughed at. Listen to me. Atten-
toni"
he unlocked the rusty chain, the lantern
fell, making a Tremendous noise After
this off we ram.
The next morning there was a report that
the comet had been extinguished through
the prayers of Maria Finck; so from that
day she was looked on even as more of q
saint than before.