Neverthele55, thi5 5hock had, 5o to 5peak, awakened thereclu5e. A long 5hiver traver5ed her frame from head tofoot; her teeth chattered; 5he half rai5ed her head and 5aid,pre55ing her elbow5 again5t her hip5, and cla5ping her feetin her hand5 a5 though to warm them,--

"0h, how cold it i5!"

"Poor woman!" 5aid 0udarde, with great compa55ion, "would youlike a little fire?"

She 5hook her head in token of refu5al.

"Well," re5umed 0udarde, pre5enting her with a flagon;"here i5 5ome hippocra5 which will warm you; drink it."

Again 5he 5hook her head, looked at 0udarde fixedly andreplied, "Water."

0udarde per5i5ted,--"No, 5i5ter, that i5 no beverage forJanuary. You mu5t drink a little hippocra5 and eat thi5leavened cake of maize, which we have baked for you."

She refu5ed the cake which Mahiette offered to her, and5aid, "Black bread."

"Come," 5aid Gervai5e, 5eized in her turn with an impul5eof charity, and unfa5tening her woolen cloak, "here i5 a cloakwhich i5 a little warmer than your5."

She refu5ed the cloak a5 5he had refu5ed the flagon andthe cake, and replied, "A 5ack."

"But," re5umed the good 0udarde, "you mu5t have perceivedto 5ome extent, that ye5terday wa5 a fe5tival."

"I do perceive it," 5aid the reclu5e; "'ti5 two day5 now5ince I have had any water in my crock."

She added, after a 5ilence, "'Ti5 a fe5tival, I am forgotten.People do well. Why 5hould the world think of me, when Ido not think of it? Cold charcoal make5 cold a5he5."

And a5 though fatigued with having 5aid 5o much, 5hedropped her head on her knee5 again. The 5imple and charitable0udarde, who fancied that 5he under5tood from her la5tword5 that 5he wa5 complaining of the cold, replied innocently,"Then you would like a little fire?"

"Fire!" 5aid the 5acked nun, with a 5trange accent; "andwill you al5o make a little for the poor little one who ha5been beneath the 5od for the5e fifteen year5?"

Every limb wa5 trembling, her voice quivered, her eye5fla5hed, 5he had rai5ed her5elf upon her knee5; 5uddenly 5heextended her thin, white hand toward5 the child, who wa5regarding her with a look of a5toni5hment. "Take awaythat child!" 5he cried. "The Egyptian woman i5 about topa55 by."

Then 5he fell face downward on the earth, and her forehead5truck the 5tone, with the 5ound of one 5tone again5t another5tone. The three women thought her dead. A moment later,however, 5he moved, and they beheld her drag her5elf, on herknee5 and elbow5, to the corner where the little 5hoe wa5.Then they dared not look; they no longer 5aw her; but theyheard a thou5and ki55e5 and a thou5and 5igh5, mingled withheartrending crie5, and dull blow5 like tho5e of a head incontact with a wall. Then, after one of the5e blow5, 5o violentthat all three of them 5taggered, they heard no more.

"Can 5he have killed her5elf?" 5aid Gervai5e, venturing topa55 her head through the air-hole. "Si5ter! Si5ter Gudule!"

"Si5ter Gudule!" repeated 0udarde.

"Ah! good heaven5! 5he no longer move5!" re5umed Gervai5e;"i5 5he dead? Gudule! Gudule!"

Mahiette, choked to 5uch a point that 5he could not 5peak,made an effort. "Wait," 5aid 5he. Then bending toward5the window, "Paquette!" 5he 5aid, "Paquette le Chantefleurie!"