第11章

The next day was Sunday, and for Gilbert was a day of liberty.

Towards the middle of the forenoon, he went out to take a walk in the woods.He had wandered for an hour, when, turning his head, he saw coming behind him a little troop of children, decked out in strange costumes.The two oldest wore blue dresses and red mantles, and their heads were covered with felt caps encircled by bands of gilt paper in imitation of aureoles.A smaller one wore a gray dress, upon which were painted black devils and inverted torches.The last five were clothed in white; their shoulders were ornamented with long wings of rose-tinted gauze, and they held in their hands sprigs of box by way of palm branches.

Gilbert slackened his pace, and when they came up with him, he recognized in the one who wore the san-benito the little hog-driver, so maltreated by Stephane.The child, who while marching looked down complacently on the torches and the devils with which his robe was decorated, advanced towards Gilbert, and without waiting for his questions, said to him, "I am Judas Iscariot.Here is Saint Peter, and here is Saint John.The others are angels.We are all going to R----, to take part in a grand procession, that they have there every five years.If you want to see something fine, just follow us.I shall sing a solo and so will Saint Peter;the others sing in the chorus."

Upon which Judas Iscariot, Saint Peter, Saint John and the angels resumed their march, and Gilbert decided to follow them.The first houses of the village of R---- rise at the extremity of the wooded plain which extends to the south of Geierfels.In about half an hour, the little procession made its entry into the village in the midst of a considerable crowd which hastily gathered from the neighboring hamlets.Gilbert made his way along the main street, decorated with hangings and altars, and passed on to an open square planted with elms, of which the church formed one of the sides.

Presently the bells sounded a grand peal; the doors of the church opened, and the procession came out.At the head marched priests, monks, and laymen of both sexes, bearing wax tapers, crosses, and banners.Behind them came a long train of children representing the escort of the Saviour to Calvary.One of them, a young lad of ten years, filled the role of Christ.

At a moment when Gilbert was absorbed in reflection, a voice which was not unknown to him murmured in his ear these words, which made him shudder:

"You seem prodigiously interested, Monsieur, in this ridiculous comedy!"Turning his head quickly, he recognized Stephane.The young man had just dismounted from his horse, which he had left in the care of his servant, and had pushed his way through the crowd, indifferent to the exclamations of the good people whose pious meditations he disturbed.Gilbert looked at him a moment severely, and then fixed his eyes on the procession, and tried, but in vain, to forget the existence of this Stephane whom he had not met before since the adventure at the fountain, and whose presence at this moment caused him an indefinable uneasiness.The reproachful look which he had cast upon the young man, far from intimidating him, served but to excite his mocking humor, and after a few seconds of silence he commenced the following soliloquy in French, speaking low, but in a voice so distinct that Gilbert, to his great regret, lost not a word of it:

"Mon Dieu! how ridiculous these young ones are! They really seem to take the whole thing seriously; what vulgar types! what square, bony faces.Don't their low, stupid expressions contrast oddly with their wings? Do you see that little chap twisting his mouth and rolling his eyes? His air of contrition is quite edifying.

The other day he was caught stealing fagots from a neighbor....

And look at that other one who has lost his wings! What an unlucky accident! He is stooping to pick them up, and tucks them under his arm like a cocked hat.The idea is a happy one! But thank God, their litanies are over.It's Saint Peter's turn to sing."For a long time Gilbert looked about him anxiously, seeking an opportunity to escape, but the crowd was so compact that it was impossible to make his way through it.He saw himself forced to remain where he was and to submit, even to the end, to Stephane's amiable soliloquy.So he pretended not to hear him, and concealed his impatience as well as he could; but his nervousness betrayed him in spite of himself, and to the great diversion of Stephane, who maliciously enjoyed his own success.Fortunately for Gilbert, when Judas had stopped singing, the procession resumed its march towards a second station at the other end of the village, and this caused a general movement among the bystanders who hedged his passage.Gilbert profited by this disorder to escape, and was soon lost in the crowd, where even Stephane's piercing eyes could not follow him.